


Don't Let Me Disappear

by This_is_Riri



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Badass Emerson Bennett-Salvatore, Betrayal, F/M, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Hybrids, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Time Travel, Vampires, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-03 13:12:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 50,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13341960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_is_Riri/pseuds/This_is_Riri
Summary: When Emerson starts to feel herself being pulled out from the timeline she has no one to turn to, but her Aunt for help. When they discover that something must’ve changed in the past between her parents the fifteen year old has to go back in time in order to keep herself from disappearing, but little does she know of the dangers there that are trying to keep her from existing.This is a story about love, family, survival and a girl trying to save her own life by changing the events of the past.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So I was working on my other story "Way Back When" when I got inspired to write this. It's basically based off of every time travel movie I've ever seen. Thank you guys for reading my stories and I hope you enjoy this one.

Emerson held onto her father for dear life as she tried to keep herself from crying. She knew that if she showed any kind of vulnerability then he’d be tempted to not let her go, and she needed to go. To his credit, her father has kept it together since they found out what was happening to her even though she suspected that he was just trying to stay strong for her.

Ever since she was born it’s always been the two of them, granted her aunt would visit, it wasn’t as often as she would’ve liked so it was just her and her dad, always and forever, or at least that’s what she used to think, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Emerson pulled away from her dad so she could look at him one last time before she had to go. He tried to smile down at her reassuringly but failed miserably. She knew he was just trying to hide his fear because she could always read him like a book and vice versa. “It’s going to be okay, dad,” she said softly, glad that her voice didn’t crack, and he just responded by kissing her forehead.

“It’s time to go, Em,” her aunt said and Emerson turned from her father so she could acknowledge what her aunt said. They were in the woods just outside of Mystic Falls, it was the best place they could find to perform the spell that would take her back to a time she’s only heard about from her father’s stories.

She turned back to her father to give him one more hug, “Remember what I told you” he said as they pulled away again and she nodded before walking towards her aunt “Do you remember the spell?” her aunt asked and she nodded, “Okay, close your eyes and concentrate”. Emerson did as she was told and then started reciting the spell.

After reciting it a few times, Emerson took one last look at her father and aunt before she was engulfed by a white light and disappeared before their eyes.

“Be careful, Em”.


	2. Back In Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerson sees her parents.

“Ugh” Emerson groaned as she rubbed her aching head, time travel hurt more than she thought it would. She sat up slowly, wondering where she was while the pounding in her head subsided before she examined her surroundings and saw nothing but trees, she must be in the woods outside Mystic Falls, or at least she hoped so. “Okay, Em. No need to freak out, you just need to find someone that can tell you where you are” she said, trying to reassure herself as she got up, picked up her discarded backpack and sped off.

It was dark, which meant it must’ve worked because it was still in the afternoon when she had to say goodbye to her dad. She shook her head, trying not to think about him right now and approached a woman she saw about to get into her car. “Um, excuse me, mem” She called out to her and the woman turned around to look at the teen in front of her.

“Hi, um do you mind if I ask what year it is?” she asked and the woman looked at her suspiciously before deciding she didn’t really care “It’s 2010” she said in a clipped tone before getting into her car and driving off, leaving the girl to her thoughts as she walked around town. It looked so different from what it looked like where she was from, but it was still home.

Her magic had taken her back to where she needed to go even though it was further than where she actually wanted to go, at least her dad was here so all she had to do was find him and she knew just where to start. She walked past a sign that said Mystic Grill and realized how hungry she was, probably a side effect from time traveling because her dad made her eat before she left. She walked in and found a table when a waitress approached her with a bright smile “Welcome to Mystic grill, what can I get you?” the woman asked as she got a good look at the young girl, wondering why she was out so late by herself, especially with the weird stuff that happened in this town.

“Hi, um do you guys sell burgers here?” she asked and the waitress looked at her like she was weird before she nodded and smiled at her again “You from out of town?” Emerson chuckled a bit before she responded “Um, yeah. I’m from uh…out of town” she said nervously, she wasn’t really good when put on the spot. Her waitress didn’t seem to notice though and instead gave her a genuine smile this time “Well, welcome to Mystic Falls. I’ll be right out with your order, sweetie” she said before she walked off.

Emerson was halfway through eating her burger when a couple dressed in old-school clothing walked in. Their choice of clothing made her curious because no one else in this time was dressed like that, not anyone she’s seen anyway. “Are you still okay, sweetie?” The waitress asked, coming back to check on her.

“Yeah, um hey, is it a standard norm to be dressed like that around here?” she asked nudging towards the couple sitting in a booth two tables from them. The waitress followed her eyes and saw the couple in question before giggling a bit, “Oh no, they’re just in costume. There’s a sixties dance at the high school tonight”.

“Mystic Falls High?”

“Yeah, this town is really big on dances and such, I used to think it was weird too, but you get used to it pretty quickly”. Emerson barely heard what the waitress was saying as she rummaged through her backpack for what little money she had. “I’m sorry, but I have to go”. She said as she swung her backpack over her shoulder, “I don’t think I have enough for the burger”.

“It’s on the house, sweetie”. The waitress said with a warm smile Emerson couldn’t help but return. “Thank you so much, hopefully I’ll see you again,” she said already rushing towards the door.

“You be careful out there, sweetie” she heard the nice waitress call out to her as she walked out of the grill, the cool air hitting her face as she got outside.

_“Remember to come find me when you get there, okay?” he said as the three of them sat at the table, making last minute plans for her “trip”. She could tell he was terrified, he was triple checking if she still remembered everything he told her and she only nodded because she was terrified too, not for herself, but for him because what would happen to him if he lost her too._

_“Your phone won’t work over there so remember to get yourself a new one. You know I don’t approve of using compulsion to get what you want, but I’ll let it slide this time just don’t overdo it, okay?” he said and she nodded again._

_“She’ll be fine,” Her aunt said as she watched them try to be strong for each other and Emerson smiled gratefully at her aunt before grabbing her dad’s hand and squeezing it “I’ll come back, dad. I promise you” She said fighting off the tears that threatened to fall “I know you will,” he said wiping away the stray tear that escaped from her eyes “You’re so much like your mother, Em, always taking care of everyone else except yourself”. He leaned over and kissed her forehead as she held onto his hand as if it was her lifeline._

Emerson rubbed her eyes in order to keep herself from crying as she stood in front of the school her parents went to, or go to since they were still teenagers in this time and watched as teenagers walk in and out of the school dressed in similar clothes as the couple she saw at the grill. “Please be in there dad” she whispered before following some students inside.

She stood in the school hallway for a second before she picked up a familiar scent and followed it. _“There you are”_ she stopped short when she saw the person who said that and watched all three of them argue while she stayed hidden. As she listened to them she tried to remember what her dad said happened at the sixties dance.

_“Even though it all turned out okay, that was the first time your mother died for her best friend”._

“Damn it, where is she?!” The boom of his voice broke her from her thoughts and her heart started beating faster against her chest as the realization of what was happening hit her. She tuned in her vampire hearing, trying to pick up her location. _“Is that all you got?”_

_“Let’s find out”_ She heard her say before hearing a crash.

Emerson sped off towards the cafeteria a few seconds after the couple did and watched them try to get the doors that were sealed shut, open, while Elena cried out to her best friend. She took slow tentative steps towards the door and stood beside Elena, even though she didn’t seem to notice her as she continued to cry out for Bonnie to stop.

She watched the man crawl on the floor while the sound of bones being broken was heard through the door and could see the sinister look on his face, he was enjoying this. Her eyes moved away from the man on the floor and looked at the young girl she’s only ever seen in pictures. She looked a lot younger than Emerson pictured her to be in this time and couldn’t help the sob that escaped from her lips as she watched the blood drip from the other girl’s nose. She turned to them and gave them a teary smile which broke Emerson.

_“Don’t change anything”._

“I’m sorry, dad” she whispered to herself, catching Stefan’s attention for the first time from where he stood on the other side of Elena. _“Terra Mora Vantis Quo Incandis, per Vasa Quo Errum Signos”._ The couple turned and watched in shock as the girl started chanting an incantation, but she didn’t notice, too focused on trying to get the door open instead _“Phasmatos Selvus Terra Mora Vantis Quo Incandis, per Vasa Errum Quo Signos”_ she continued, getting louder as the wind picked up from out of nowhere _“Phasmatos selvus nos ex malom terra mora Vantis Quo Incandis per Vasa Quo Errum Signos. Terra Mora Vantis Quo Incandis!”_ The doors burst open then and Stefan wasted no time, speeding off towards Bonnie to stop her before she killed herself.

Klaus’ sinister look turned to shock as he made eye contact with the girl standing in the doorway. He didn’t expect for there to be another witch, she wasn’t supposed to be there. He’s been parading around Mystic falls in Alaric Saltzman’s body for weeks and he’s never seen her once, so where did she come from? Klaus wasn’t an idiot though so instead of sticking around to face someone he knew nothing about he used this moment to speed off, leaving them to tend to the witch.

Emerson watched him speed off, she could’ve gone after him she could’ve even stopped him if she wanted too, but she figured she’s done enough damage for one night. She just hoped this wouldn’t drastically change what was left of her future.

She turned back to look at the three people in front of her, focusing her eyes on Bonnie, who’d passed out in Stefan’s arms. She wasn’t dead, she could tell because she could still hear her heart beating. She finally let herself relax then and wiped away the tears that spilled from her eyes, she was okay, that was all Emerson needed to know right now and that was enough to let herself walk away before the couple noticed her. This was all too much for her anyway, so she decided to try to talk to her father tomorrow when her head was clear.

That night, as Emerson laid on the bed of a motel room she compelled herself into, she cried herself to sleep.


	3. Brave New World

_Emerson was in her room pretending to be asleep while she eavesdropped on her dad and Aunt’s conversation. Her dad called her after what happened this afternoon, they were preparing dinner in the kitchen when the next thing she knew the knife she was holding was on the floor. She doesn’t remember ever dropping it though, and when she looked up at her dad to ask him what happened he looked like he’d seen a ghost. She doesn’t know what happened to her, but whatever it was had her father scared to his very core and that’s why her Aunt Lucy was here._

_Their entire conversation comprised mostly of Aunt Lucy trying to calm him down, but amongst all of that one thing Lucy said had her sitting up on her bed, “She’s disappearing from the timeline”._

Emerson wiped the tears from her eyes before she actually opened them, waking up from her dream. It was morning, day one in this strange place which resembled her home.

* * *

 

Bonnie groaned before covering her head with the blanket. Her head hurt and the sunlight shining through her room wasn’t helping. She tried to remember the events of last night, but it was all a blur. The last thing she remembers is looking back at her friends and seeing the face of a girl she didn’t know, but somehow recognized.

Bonnie knew going in that she couldn’t beat Klaus without overexerting herself, and possibly even killing herself. That’s why she came up with that plan with Damon, it was simple; make Klaus believe she was dead and then blindside him, but then something happened, something she couldn’t remember.

They still hadn’t figured out how they were going to stop Klaus from sacrificing Elena, and even with the power of a hundred dead witches, Bonnie wasn’t sure that would be enough to kill him, especially if he had his own witch.

“You’re up”. The sound of Stefan’s voice made her jump a little, _what was he doing in her room?_ She thought and groaned right after because trying to figure out how he got into her house let alone her room, made her headache worse.

Stefan walked into the room with a glass of water and Advil in hand to help with the headache she probably had. When he got to the edge of the bed he pulled the blankets from Bonnie’s body and she whined in response. “Here, drink,” he said passing her the pills and water. She slowly opened her eyes a little to see the items in his hands before she actually sat up and took them gratefully.

“How did you get into my house?” she asked curiously as she set the glass of water on her lap and he chuckled a little because she hasn’t realized that this isn’t her room yet. After the events of last night, they didn’t really feel comfortable with just leaving her in her house alone so they took her back to the boarding house and let her sleep in one of the guestrooms.

 “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing it’s just that this isn’t your room,” he said and she finally looked around the room and saw that he was right. “You’re at the boarding house” he answered her unasked question. Stefan’s always been perceptive and the fact that he could read her like that always made her a little uneasy. “We brought you here after you passed out”.

“I passed out?”

“Yeah, you don’t remember?” he asked a little concerned and she shook her head, “I remember seeing you and Elena and that’s basically it”. She doesn’t mention the girl she saw because really it’s too early in the morning for her to have Stefan thinking she’s lost her mind.

“Well…” he started as he sat on the edge of her bed “For one, Elena and I watched you almost kill yourself so that wasn’t great,” he said and she at least had the decency to look ashamed of herself. “But luckily this girl showed up out of nowhere and cast a spell to get the door open. She saved your life, Bonnie”. That caught her attention “She opened the door?” she asked and he nodded in response, and could almost see the wheels in her head turning.

Last night she used a Bennett sealing spell to keep them from getting inside which meant only a Bennett witch could break the spell so if this girl could get the door open then it meant she was a Bennett. It also explained why Bonnie immediately felt drawn to her when she saw her.

“What are you thinking?” The sound of Stefan’s voice immediately drew her out of her thoughtful haze and she shook her head in response, not feeling comfortable with sharing what she just learned with him. It was no secret that Bonnie wasn’t the biggest fan of vampires, and after grams died she completely closed herself off. She knew Stefan was a good guy though and he loved her best friend, but the reality of what he was would always keep her from fully trusting him.

“Nothing”.

* * *

 

Emerson stood at the Salvatore estate, looking at the boarding house in front of her trying to gather up enough courage to actually go knock on the door. When she left her motel room this morning she was determined to make her way to the boarding house and now that she was here, she couldn’t bring herself to go knock on the door, and not because of the four vampires she could sense inside, but because of the one witch she knew was in there as well.

_“And when I see her? Dad, I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to handle that”._

_“You will be, and when you do see her, tell her I love her”._

Thinking about what her dad told her was all the encouragement she needed to actually walk up to the door and open it.

* * *

 

Bonnie was sitting on the couch with Jeremy’s head on her lap, looking through her grimoire for something that would help her defeat Klaus for what felt like the hundredth’s time, but she was still convinced she missed something. Elena and Stefan were on the couch across from hers whispering sweet nothings to each other while Damon looked at them with disdain from his spot by the fireplace.

Jeremy had been nice enough to bring it by for her when Elena wouldn’t let her leave the house, telling her that she needed to rest because she overexerted herself last night. Sure, her body hurt a little, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. But this was Elena, her best friend and she’d do anything to make her life easier.

Caroline had also made her way to the boarding house to come check on Bonnie after Elena told her what happened, to say she was pissed off was an understatement, but Bonnie was still grateful that she decided to stay. The two of them have come a long way since Caroline was turned and instead of seeing what she was now, whenever Bonnie looked at her all she saw was the girl she grew up with and she never wanted that to change.

She was about to ask Jeremy for a glass of water when they all heard the door open and a moment later the girl from last night came into view. Bonnie almost knocked Jeremy off the couch from the momentum it took her to get up. She looked at the girl before her in awe, unaware of the fact that she was actually gravitating towards her and when she was close enough, Bonnie gave her a warm smile that almost broke Emerson right then. “It’s you” she breathed, her voice barely audible but the vampires in the room had no problem hearing her.

Bonnie reached for the girl’s hand and instantly felt the same connection she felt with her grams and Lucy. A sob slipped from her lips then, relief flooding her because she suddenly didn’t feel alone anymore. “You’re my family, aren’t you?” Bonnie asked, forgetting the other people in the room who looked on with curious eyes

Emerson nodded with tears in her forest green eyes, “My name’s Emerson” she spoke softly, scared that if she spoke any louder the girl before her might disappear. Bonnie’s hand felt warm and comforting on her own and she was grateful that she had something to hold onto, something concrete that reminded her that this was real. Bonnie’s smile broadened as she said: “It means bravery”.

Emerson nodded with a smile as tears fell from her eyes, of course she knew that. Her dad told her that she came up with the name, believing that people would know that she was strong just by hearing her name “And you must be very brave, Emerson”. She chuckled as more tears fell from her eyes “My mom came up with it” she said as Bonnie used her thumb to wipe some of her tears away.

“She seems like a very wise woman,” Bonnie said and Emerson nodded with a sad smile “She was. Um, she died giving birth to me” she said, unable to hide anything from her. “I’m sorry, and I know what you’re going through, I lost my grams a year ago and I keep telling myself that it will get better-”

 “And has it?”

“I’m still waiting” Bonnie shrugged as her eyes got glassy and Emerson nodded in understanding. It was such an intimate moment that the others all felt like they were intruding by just being there, but they couldn’t bring themselves to leave.

“Sorry to break up this little family reunion, but who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house,” Damon said cutting into their moment and the two girls rolled their eyes at the same time.

“She’s the girl from last night” Stefan is the one to respond, looking at the girl curiously, wondering who she was. The confusion immediately cleared from everyone’s faces then as they remembered what Elena told them.

“So you’re the one who ruined my plan,” Damon said, taking a step closer, but changed his mind after seeing the murderous look on Bonnie’s face. She was tired, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t kick Damon’s ass if he tried anything. “I didn’t ruin anything, you sent her on a suicide mission, to what? To buy her more time to try and figure out a way to save Elena without killing herself? You never believed that she could really do it anyway, no, you just needed her to be willing to sacrifice herself instead”.

After her outburst, everyone looked at her in shock for a moment, not really disagreeing with her, which made her wonder how many of them actually would’ve let Bonnie kill herself if Elijah hadn’t betrayed them. It’s one of the things she’s always battled with and often pissed her off about the kind of person her father used to be.

“You know Klaus?” Elena asked, being the first to recover from her outburst and Emerson fought the urge to roll her eyes, because is that seriously what she took from everything she just said? She sighed, trying to calm herself down before responding, “I know of him, my dad used to tell me stories about him, about all of you” she said turning to the doppelganger, and then to the man beside her “He told me to come find you”.

“Who? Stefan?” Caroline asked, speaking up for the first time since the girl she knew looked too much like Bonnie to be a distant relative, walked in, and she wondered if anyone else noticed.

“Yes, he said you would help me”.

“Help you do what?” Stefan asked a little surprised, who was her father and how did he know that he would just help a girl he’s never met before?

She took a deep calming breath then, trying to keep her voice steady as she said: “Um, help me not die”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to have another chapter uploaded by the end of the day as well. I hope you enjoyed this.


	4. Who Are You?

_Dear diary_

_I want you to give a message to my dad, I want you to tell him I’m sorry for not listening to him. He told me to stay out of it, to not get sucked into the troubles of this time, but I couldn’t help it. My mind knows that these people aren’t my family, not yet anyway, but then I look at Stefan and all I see is him._

_Tell him that I met mom and she’s so great. Tell him I passed on his message, and she cried because I guess she never really believed that someone could ever love her that much. Tell him that I’m proud to call him my dad, and lastly, tell him I love him and that I’ll never stop loving him and no matter what happens I’ll always be with him, forever and always, just like I promised._

* * *

 

They all stood there in shock after what she said, Bonnie’s eyes already filling with tears at the thought of her dying. “I’m here to help you” she continued before backtracking, “I figured if I help you guys then you’ll help me out as well because I really need it” she said, her eyes getting teary again and Bonnie squeezed her hand, which gave her the courage to continue.

“You see, about a month ago, my dad and I were making dinner together in our kitchen when suddenly the knife I was holding was on the floor and my dad had the most horrified look I’ve ever seen on his face. When I asked him what happened he told me I disappeared, it was just for a second, but it was long enough to completely scare him to death” she said trying to stay calm as she relived that day in her mind “He told me it was okay, but I could tell something was very wrong so that night when he thought I was asleep I heard him talking to my Aunt and she told him that I was disappearing from the timeline”.

“Wait, what do you mean you’re disappearing from the timeline?” Jeremy asked from his spot on the couch. Ever since this girl walked in he’s been watching her and even without them saying, he could see the resemblance.

“It means something happens in the past that keeps me from ever being born”.

“How is that possible?” Elena asked skeptically, on top of everything else, there was just no way time travel was a thing.

“Time travel. It’s how I got here and Stefan, before you tell me that time travel doesn’t exist, yes it does” she said looking at the vampire in question. “And no, I’m not reading your mind, you’re just very easy to read, I’ve had years of practice,” she said a little smug even though there were still tears in her eyes. She could write a book on Stefan Salvatore’s mannerisms alone.

“If you’re from the future, how did you get here?” he asked as she wiped her tears. “My mom created the spell back when she and my dad first started dating in order to keep something bad from happening to someone she cared about. It had dire consequences though so she hid it and never used it again”.

“And you’re using it now because you’re dying?” He asked skeptically and she rolled her eyes “Because I’m disappearing. Something changed somewhere in the past, something that involves my parents, and whatever it is keeps me from ever being born. It’s either they never start dating or…”

“Or what?”

“Or my mom dies sooner than she’s supposed to” She said, getting emotional again, but she refused to let it show this time so she blinked away her tears and continued “Look, I know you don’t believe me, I wouldn’t too if I were you, but I’m telling you the truth”. When they didn’t say anything she took off her backpack and opened it while they watched her take out what looked like a journal and she straightened up again after putting her backpack on the floor. She held out the book for him to take and Stefan immediately recognized it as his journal. “Where did you get this?” he asked examining it.

“You gave it to me” She said and he looked down at her, shocked before he ran out of the room, returning in a split second with the same journal in his hand. Emerson smiled down at it because she was happy to see a version of him that still wrote in his journal. He’d stopped the day her mom died and when she was ten years old he gave his entire collection to her so that she’d know her mom through his eyes. They were her most cherished gift and she’d read them to him every year on her mom’s birthday, it was a tradition that started by accident but one they didn’t want to break.

“I have more back home”. She said, watching him read through it, recognizing every entry before looking at her again. His journals were important to him, they were where he expressed himself without fear of judgment and he’s never let anyone read through any of them and for her to have one of his journals meant that she must be very important to him.

“Okay, let’s say we believe you, when exactly in the future are you from?” Damon asked, pouring himself a glass of bourbon because the more he looked at this girl the more familiar she looked and he didn’t know how to deal with that.

“I’m from the year 2034”.

“That’s 24 years from now” Caroline blurted out without meaning to, before settling down again.

“Wait, you said you’re from the future, how does coming back to the past keep you from dying, technically you haven’t been born yet” Elena said trying to piece everything together, beside her Stefan had gone quiet, choosing to just stare at the girl he apparently seemed to care about enough to give his journals to.

“By saving my mom”.

“Wait, this thing that happens to your parents has already happened, right? That’s why you’re here?” Jeremy asked trying to get his head on straight, and Emerson nodded “Then how are you standing here now?”

“Because time hasn’t set” Bonnie spoke up for the first time since the girl said she was from the future and they all looked at her while she kept her eyes on Emerson. Ever since her grams died she’s been reading books on time travel so she could go back somehow and keep grams from ever performing that spell. None of her friends knew about it though and what Emerson said before made her wonder if it was possible that she could be this girl’s mother.

 “Who are you?” It was a simple question, but the answer held all of Bonnie’s hopes and dreams, as well as her fears about the future. Emerson gave Bonnie her full attention then, she knew exactly what Bonnie was asking and she also knew the risks of telling them too much, but she couldn’t keep it to herself, not when she was looking at her pleadingly like that so she took a deep breath and looked at all of them, her eyes lingering on Stefan before she spoke up.

“My name is Emerson Bonnie Bennett-Salvatore”

* * *

 

“You were right, the child has come to this time,” the man said, not looking at his messenger. He’d told him about the girl being in 2010, but he didn’t want to believe it until he felt her power for himself.

She was getting stronger and it was only a matter of time till she reached her peak. “Do you want me to kill her now?” the messenger asked and he shook his head, turning around with a sinister smile on his face. “No, not yet. Let the girl get to know her beloved mother first. There’ll be plenty of time for that later”


	5. Homesick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emerson thinks about her dad.

_“You can’t just disappear like that, Em” he said as he came to sit down beside her. “I’m sorry” she whispered, her voice cracking a little bit so he took the book from her hands and closed it before holding her tight against his chest._

_“I’ll tell you what” he said while she quietly cried against his chest “I’ll get you a key so you can come here whenever you need to without me having to worry about where you are”._

_“Really?” she asked hopefully, giving him a teary smile and he just kissed her forehead “Anything for you, baby” he said and a sob escaped her lips as she giggled gratefully._

_It was her mother’s birthday. They brought cake, looked through old pictures from when they were still in high school and somewhere during all that it all became too much for the seven year old girl, so she ran. She didn’t know where she was going until she found herself outside her great grandmother’s old house, which is where her dad found her thirty minutes later. She was sitting on the couch in the living room reading one of his journals._

_“Dad?” she mumbled against his chest. “What’s up?”_

_“Would you do it again?” she asked, unable to look at him. She didn’t want to see the look of hurt and regret in his eyes that she knows she put there. “If you knew that this is how your life would turn out, would you let mom choose me over her own life?”_

_The moment that question left her lips he knew that she’d been reading his journal. He wasn’t mad, he just hoped that she wouldn’t know about some of the internal battles he faced when his wife was pregnant._

_“Your mom is the love of my life, I never knew how much she meant to me until I had her” he said softly, running his hand through her curls. He wouldn’t look at her though as he remembered the love he shared with Bonnie. “And then she gave me the greatest gift I could’ve ever wished for. I lived in fear of losing her for over eight months after she told me the risks of her pregnancy, but the moment you opened your eyes I finally understood what she meant. You are a part of both of us and she’ll always be with us. I wouldn’t change a single thing about our life, Em”._

_She wrapped her arms around his neck then, kissing his cheek “I love you, dad, and I’m sorry for taking your journal without asking”._

_He just nodded against her neck before pulling away “Will you read it to me?” he asked and her face lit up immediately. She leaned over, grabbed the journal from the nightstand and opened it to the passage she’d been reading._

“Dear Diary…”

* * *

Stefan snuck into Elena’s room, it was the middle of the night and she hadn’t been returning his calls since they found out about Emerson. He was still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing, it wasn’t possible, he was a vampire and vampires couldn’t procreate. Being a vampire aside, how could he have ended up with Bonnie, he was in love with Elena. She was everything to him and right now he hated the pain she was in, pain he somehow caused without even knowing it. What changes so much in the future that he loses the love of his life and ends up with her best friend.

Stefan couldn’t help but think back on the events of earlier today as listened to his love cry in the bathroom she shared with Jeremy.

_Damon grabbed Emerson’s neck and pinned her against the wall “She’s lying” Damon sneered, getting in the girl’s face. “Now tell us, who sent you?” he asked, his voice dripping with venom. It wasn’t possible, vampires couldn’t procreate._

_Bonnie could feel her magic at the tip of her fingers begging for release, but stopped herself from using it when she saw the little girl grab onto Damon’s hand and twist it away from her neck while giving him an aneurysm. “After everything you’ve seen, the world you live in, you don’t believe this?” she started, dangerously low while the vampire dropped to his knees clutching his head in pain. “You don’t want me here, I get it” she added, her voice shaking a little bit as she stopped her assault on Damon._

_Elena ran to help him up or to keep him from attacking her again, Emerson wasn’t sure and in that minute she really didn’t care. “You think I want to be in a time where my father doesn’t even know me?” she asked looking at all of them, she could feel her magic at the tip of her fingers, “A time where my mother is alive when I know she’s dead because of me?!” She cried, and could feel herself losing control, Bonnie could see it too so she walked up to her and held onto her hand, hoping to calm her down. Emerson immediately calmed down when she felt her mother’s hand slip into her own. She looked down at their joined hands as the tears continued to fall from her eyes, “I can’t be here right now” she whispered and squeezed her mom’s hand one last time before zooming out of the boarding house._

Bonnie had followed right after her, but Stefan had stayed glued to his spot, not sure of what to do with himself. He finally snapped out of it when Elena left soon after, talking about how she needed to get out of there. He’s been trying to reach her ever since.

The door opened to reveal a heartbroken Elena, he hair was disheveled and her eyes puffy from crying. She stopped short when she noticed Stefan sitting on her bed. “What are you doing here, Stefan?” she asked quietly, avoiding his eyes as she walked further into the room. “You wouldn’t return my calls” he said walking towards her, only to have her step away from him and wrapped her arms around her middle protectively.

“Yeah well finding out that the person you thought you’d be with forever is married and has a child with your best friend earned me some time alone” she said, her voice sounding cold and distant.

“Elena-”

“Don’t Stefan” she said her voice cracking “Don’t try to make me feel better, don’t try to reassure me that everything is going to be okay when I know it’s not”. She wiped the stray tear the escaped her eyes, she refused to cry again, not in front of him. “You are it for me, Stefan, I will always choose you” she said looking at him for the first time since she walked into her room and noticed how tired he looked, “but she’s here, reminding me that you’re not really mine”. Stefan walked closer to her again and this time she let him. “I’m in love with you, Elena. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, and all I want to do is spend every moment with you”.

“Can I ask you one thing?” Elena said softly, fearing the answer before she’s even asked her question. “Knowing what you do about the future, are you willing to fight for us?”

* * *

 Bonnie jumped a bit when she walked into her grams’ living room and found Emerson sitting on the couch. The girl in question quickly wiped her tears before giving her guilty smile “I’m sorry, I-”

“I’m so glad you’re okay” Bonnie rushed out and went to go sit on the couch with her. They sat there in silence for a moment, with Emerson clutching her father’s journal tightly against her chest. “I used to come here so often as a kid that my dad made me a key” she chuckled quietly and tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought about her father. Bonnie watched her, but didn’t say anything. She noticed that every time she talked about her father her face lit up and Bonnie couldn’t help but try to imagine Stefan as a father. It wasn’t that hard to imagine, Stefan was a good guy and looking at the young girl’s eyes now, she could see the same warmth that would reflect in his.

“He used to tell me that you always felt content here, and I guess it does the same thing for me” she said giving her a teary smile, which Bonnie returned at thought of her daughter wanting to feel close to her. Emerson’s heart almost jumped out of her chest when she felt Bonnie’s hand in hers again. It still felt so strange, and yet to her it was the best feeling in the world. “He wanted me to tell you that he loves you” she blurted out suddenly, remembering what he told her. Bonnie looked up at her in surprise, tears starting to brim her eyes, but they didn’t spill over. She didn’t know how to respond to that, the only love she’s ever truly felt was from her grams and yet when she looks at this little girl she believes every word she is saying.

Emerson reluctantly let go of her mother’s hand and opened the journal in her hands, looking for the very first passage she ever read to her dad all those years ago.

_“Dear Diary…_

At the Gilbert household, Stefan stood in front of the love of his life, memorizing every contour of her face. She really was beautiful and every time he thought about the future all he could see was her.

_I thought I’d be more prepared. I thought if I kept reminding myself that nothing lasts forever, that it wouldn’t hurt as much, but I was wrong because that’s not how life works._

_When I lost her I still felt my whole world shatter and I wondered how I could still be breathing without her with me._

“I’d do anything for you, Elena”. Those words alone were enough to reassure her and she jumped into his arms, kissing him passionately. Stefan came back to Mystic Falls for Elena, she was what he lived for and he would move heaven and earth just to see her happy. As he lowered her onto her bed, their bodies still connected, he tried to ignore the feeling that he’d just lost a part of himself.

_It was so easy for her to choose our daughter over her own life, but I was never that strong so it took me a while to get it. I think that’ll forever be my biggest regret because every time I look at my beautiful daughter, every time I hold her in my arms I know that my wife was right, there was never a choice, and it should have never taken me that long to realize it"._

Emerson closed the book and looked over at Bonnie, who’d started crying the moment she started reading from the journal. She looked back at her and gave her a sad smile, “Are you scared?” she found herself asking without really thinking about it as she looked at this girl, this girl who went back in time to save her family and hopefully make it back to her father before it was too late.

“I’m only scared of what will happen to my dad if he loses me too” she whispered and Bonnie hugged her, “Well then, I guess we’ll have to make sure you make it back to him” she said, making the little girl cry even more. They fell asleep on that couch, with Bonnie holding her while she cried herself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all still enjoying this. I'll try my best to update every week. Please drop a comment and tell me what you think.


	6. The Last Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait...

_Klaus burst through the door of Alaric’s apartment and immediately pinned Maddox against the wall, his hand slowly closing around the witch’s neck, “You told me the Bennett witch was the only one in this damn town” he sneered, getting in his face._

_“Klaus, I swear I could only feel her magic the entire time we’ve been here” Maddox croaked out, trying to catch his breath, but Klaus was unrelenting. “I don’t know who that was, she wasn’t supposed to be there”._

_“Then where the hell did she come from” He said slowly, his voice dark and cold as his hand squeezed tighter around the other man’s neck._

_“I believe I can shed some light on that” a voice said from behind them. They both turned to look to the door, where a man stood who they’ve never seen before. Klaus dropped the witch in his hand and walked towards the man standing by the door while Maddox heaved on the floor behind them. “And who might you be?”_

_“I’m the man who’s going to get you everything you want, Niklaus”._

* * *

 

_“Are you really gonna give up on her?” she asked, watching the falls. She used to practice her magic out here, manipulating the elements to her will._

_He looked at her then, not really surprised to find her there, not anymore. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing” he said and she finally turned to look at him with her crooked smile that he came to look forward to because she didn’t do that anymore._

“Stefan”

_“Yes, you do” she said, but she sounded far away this time._ “Stefan”.

“Stefan, are you listening to me?” Elena asked with a concerned look on her face. They were at the boarding house listening to Alaric tell them about how Klaus let him go. He showed up earlier, but couldn’t remember anything and they were running out of time. The full moon was tonight and Klaus was going to come collect his doppelganger to break the curse.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Stefan asked confused as he took in his surroundings. He didn’t know what was happening to him, the visions started about a week ago when he made the decision to fight for his relationship with Elena. At first it was just her voice in his head, she was saying things he didn’t understand so he tried to ignore her. She wouldn’t let him though and it’s only gotten worse ever since, but this was the first time she paid him a visit while he was awake.

“I said Caroline called, Bonnie found something and they are on their way” she said, but the concerned expression never left her face. He’s been in a daze the whole week and she was starting to wonder if he was having second thoughts about their relationships. She wanted to know what was going on with him, but she was too scared to ask, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.

Stefan’s eyes went wide in alarm, but he didn’t have the time to fully internally freak out before the door burst open and Caroline walked in with two Bennetts trailing behind her. “We’re here” she said, announcing their arrival.

“Took you long enough” Damon said from his liquor tray, finally letting his attention be drawn from the couple on the couch. He knew something was wrong with his brother, he’s been hearing him talk in his sleep for a week now. He could never make out what he was saying though and as much as he hated to admit it he was starting to get worried about him, even though he’d never say it.

“Are you okay, Alaric?” Bonnie asked without preamble. She didn’t want to be there, she only came because Emerson asked her to. They spent the whole week trying to figure out how to stop Klaus and save Emerson so she could go home to her father.

They didn’t talk about the fact that Bonnie tried texting Elena all week because she felt guilty about being with Stefan in the future, only to get no reply. It hadn’t been that big a deal until Caroline came by about two days later and told them that Elena worked things out with Stefan which she didn’t understand because it takes two to tango so how Elena could be mad at her and not at Stefan. It was a double standard she was too tired to try and figure out so she just stayed away.

“I’m fine thank you, Bonnie” He said from his place on the couch. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew something was going on judging by the tension in the room the moment they walked in and the fact that Stefan’s head seemed to be somewhere else despite the fact that his girlfriend’s life was in danger. “I’m Emerson” the girl standing next to Bonnie said awkwardly, breaking the silence that befell them, as she reached for his hand to shake. “Alaric” he said looking at her, she looked really familiar but decided not to comment on it when he noticed Elena stiffen from beside Stefan.

“Why did he let you go?” Bonnie asked, wanting to get this over with. She didn’t want to stay here longer than she had to. “He wanted me to deliver a message. The sacrifice happens tonight”.

They weren’t surprised. The full moon was tonight and Klaus probably had his body back so he wanted to get this over with. “Do you remember anything that happened?” Emerson asked, stealing a glance at Stefan, but he wouldn’t look at her and that broke her heart.

“No, it was like I blacked out and woke up a week later” Alaric answered, seeing the pained look in the girl’s eyes as she looked at Stefan which made him want to know what was happening even more.

“So what’s the plan, BonBon” Damon said condescendingly, earning a death glare from the witch in question. “Emerson suggested something” she said pulling out the grimoire from the bag she was carrying. “We could perform the same spell on Elena that I performed on myself, the one that would’ve made Klaus think I was dead”.

“I thought you said that wouldn’t work” Damon said skeptically as he moved to sit next to Alaric.

“It wouldn’t if she did it by herself, but there’s two of us” Emerson was the one to respond this time. “Elena wouldn’t really die and while Klaus is vulnerable, we’ll kill him”.

“When do you plan on doing the spell?” Alaric asked.

“I need to prepare the spell first and then we’ll do it” Bonnie said flatly and Stefan stole a glance at her, she sounded so different, so defeated and she didn’t look any better.

_“Stop staring at her like an idiot”._

“Do you need any help?” The sound of Emerson’s voice snapped him out of it. Bonnie shook her head no “I’ll be fine, just give me a few minutes” She said and went off to find a room so she could perform the spell.

They all watched her leave and it wasn’t hard to see that she wanted to be anywhere else, but where she was.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Emerson heard Elena whisper in Stefan’s ear and he nodded before taking her hand and kissing it softly. She looked at him closely for the first time since they got there, he looked tired and in a daze which made her worry about him. “So how did you get roped into this mess?” Alaric’s voice said from behind her, breaking her from her thoughts. “It’s kind of a long complicated story”.

“That involves Stefan?” He asked and she smiled sadly at his perception. “You just keep looking at him a lot, but you also don’t seem to want to be here”.

“I don’t, but I have to”.

“Why?” He asked curiously and she turned to her dad again who was snuggling with Elena on the couch, trying to reassure her that everything would be okay. “Because it’d hurt him more if I let her die knowing that I could’ve prevented it”.

“What is he to you?” Alaric asked, wondering who this girl was. “He’s my father”.

“Em, Bonnie’s ready for you” Caroline said, interrupting their conversation before he could fully register what she said and just like that the girl was gone, with Elena trailing behind her.

No one noticed Stefan staring at Emerson’s retreating back before getting up and walking out the door.

* * *

 

“What do you want from me?!” Stefan yelled as he got to the falls. He ran there after what Emerson said, they thought he wasn’t paying attention when really he was all too aware of everything, like the fact that Bonnie was crying upstairs as she prepared the spell or the fact that he heard everything Emerson told Alaric and it did something to him to hear her say she’d basically let herself die just so he was happy. He didn’t know what to do about that, so he just ran to the one place he hoped he could get answers. “I know you’re here so please just tell me”.

She appeared in from of him then, it wasn’t a vision where he could barely see her face and recognize her voice. It was her, and he could see her so clearly this time. She looked different, older and her hair was shorter. She smiled at him fondly, and even though she knew that this was his past self, he looked exactly the same. “I want to see the man I married” she said softly, reaching for his cheek and he didn’t stop her.

“I’m not him” he said softly and she sighed “Then why did you come here, Elena’s life is in danger and yet you’re here looking for something that’s right in front of you”.

“Elena’s my future” he said, but it didn’t sound as convincing as he hoped it would. “Then go to her, Stefan” she said dropping her hand from his cheek. She wasn’t upset though, only sincere, and that threw him off because if they are truly in love in the future and have a child together then she’d want to fight for them, right? He wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

When he didn’t leave she examined his face, he seemed so conflicted and all she wanted to do was tell him what was going on, because really, she’s lied to him enough, but if the spirits knew what she wanted to do then they would pull her back to the other side and she wasn’t ready to leave him just yet.

“She’s willing to risk her own life for my happiness” he said all of a sudden and she nodded, not surprised that she’d do that. “Why would she do that?”

“Because you would do the same thing for her” she said easily, without a trace of doubt in her voice that it surprised him. “I would?”

“It’s always been who you are, you just lost your way”.

“How do I find my way back?” he asked, really wanting to know because he really had no idea.

“Listen to what your heart is telling you” she said before the look on her face turned to worry. “What’s wrong?”

“The spirits are calling me back, something’s happened. You have to go now, Stefan” She said and disappeared before he could say anything else.

He sped back to the boarding house, only to be intercepted by Caroline as he walked through the door “Where have you been?” she asked frantically and the others looked at him, with one person missing.

“What happened? Where’s Elena?”

“Klaus took her”.

* * *

 

_Bonnie walked through the woods and saw her family waiting for her, “This is necessary, Bonnie” Sheila said when she was close enough for them to see the sadness in her eyes. “What happened?” She asked, deflecting, she didn’t want to talk about the fact that they were making her go see him. It took her ten years to accept the fact that she would never be with her husband and daughter the way she wanted and even longer for her to accept her daughter’s fate._

_Sheila looked at her sympathetically, she hated what this was doing to her, but they needed her to reach him and keep him from changing the future. Her great grandchild had enough to face as it was without her father fighting to save a relationship that wasn’t good for him. “It’s starting”._


	7. The Beginning Of The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emerson meets the darkness...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus Chapter because I owe you guys.

“Where are we going?” Elena asked from behind the witch that was leading her through the woods. “This way” is all she said as she led her further into the darkened woods. “I can’t see anything”. The girl lit a fire around them and Elena could see two more people on the ground who she assumed were needed for the other parts of the sacrifice.

“Who are they?”

“Vampire and werewolf. You weren’t the only one chosen to help Klaus break the curse”.

“But she is a very important part” Klaus said walking up to Greta, giving her a kiss on the cheek and then dug into his pocket to retrieve the moonstone. “I’ve got the moonstone. I spent 500 years looking for this. I hate to part with it” he said handing the moonstone to Greta who took it from him and looked up at the sky. “The moon has passed its apex. Remember everything you need to do?”

“I remember”. She nodded before dropping the moonstone into a stone bowl filled with flames and sparks flew as the moonstone was destroyed. She started chanting as Klaus approached the ring of fire surrounding the werewolf “Shall we?” he asked as the ring of fire around her dispersed. Her eyes turned yellow and she tried to use her werewolf speed to try to rush Klaus, but he got the upper hand and pinned her to the ground, plunging his hand into her chest and ripping her heart out. He breathed heavily as he held the bloody heart in his hands while Elena looked on, horrified.

* * *

 

Emerson stood next to Bonnie and watched Stefan’s expression change from fear to anger and back to fear again. “They’re at Steven’s quarry” Emerson said hoping to bring him some comfort, and for the first time, Stefan looked right at her, his anger dissipating from his face as it softened slightly.

“Then let’s go” Damon said already heading out the door. “We can’t leave” Bonnie’s voice stopped him in his track, “We have to wait until the moon hits its final phase, when he kills Elena”. Damon huffed in frustration and went to go pour himself a drink. If they were forcing him to wait then he might as well have a drink.

Stefan sat on the couch waiting anxiously when he felt a presence above him. When he looked up he saw Emerson smiling awkwardly as she sat down “Do you mind if I join you?”

He shook his head, he didn’t know how to be around her, but he also didn’t want to be rude. She obviously cared about him and it was getting harder to hide that being around her was affecting him, especially when every time he looked at her, his own eyes reflected back at him reminding him that she was his.

They sat there in awkward silence before she gathered up enough courage to reach for his hand, she wasn’t sure if it would work, but in the future it usually calmed him down. It was a connection they shared, not just because they were family, but because of the relationship they had, he was always her hero and she could never see him any other way.

Stefan stiffened a bit at the contact before he let himself relax, and even squeezed her hand a bit. “I won’t let anything happened to Elena” she whispered and he turned to her, remembering what she said to Alaric. “Why are you so adamant on putting your life in danger?”

“My life is already in danger, I’m disappearing remember?” she said lightly and even chuckled a bit, but it stung Stefan like he was hearing it for the first time. She was being wiped from existence and he wasn’t doing anything to stop it, instead his choices were putting her in danger. That revelation hit him like a train smash and he couldn’t look at her anymore. She was still holding his hand, which was helping with his worry in a way he didn’t understand, but decided not to question and just kept holding on.

Emerson sighed heavily when Stefan didn’t find what she said funny, he was so much like his future self that he didn’t even know it. She knew something was eating away at him, she saw it before he broke eye contact and as much as she wanted to ask what was wrong, she knew he wouldn’t tell her. So she squeezed his hand in order for him to look at her again. “Because I want you to be happy” she said firmly giving him a teary smile but managed to keep her tears at bay and Stefan didn’t know how to respond to that as he searched her face for any hesitation, but couldn’t find any.

“Em, it’s time to go” Bonnie said, cutting into their moment and Emerson cleared her throat as she got up, letting go of Stefan’s hand. He immediately felt the absence of her hand in his the moment she let go, and the warmth and peace that came with her holding his hand was suddenly gone.

“Be careful” Stefan found himself saying before he could stop himself. “Both of you”.

Emerson nodded with a warm smile while Bonnie simply looked at him briefly before turning around and heading for the door.

* * *

 

“It’s time, love” Klaus said as he slowly approached Elena, she was the last part he needed to break the curse and he couldn’t wait till he was free from his prison. Elena got up from her kneeling position with tears in her eyes, she still couldn’t believe that he could just kill two innocent people without remorse. He really was the monster they believed him to be. She ignored the hand offered to her and walked up to the altar without even looking at him. “Thank you, Elena” he said from behind her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and neck, tilting her head to the side to get better access.

“Go to hell” was all she said before he sunk his fangs into her neck and started to drain Elena of her blood.

Elena’s eyelids fluttered and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she took her last breath. Klaus released her then and she fell to the ground while the flame in the bowl was extinguished. “I can feel it, it’s happening” he said, walking down the stone steps. He looked up at the full moon and suddenly his bones began to crack as he started to transform. “Yes!” he yelled before he felt himself being thrown through the air.

The flames in the bowl reignited, startling Greta as she heard indistinct chanting coming from a distance and before she could react Damon snuck up behind her and snapped her neck while Stefan knelt down and picked up Elena’s body.

_“Phasmatos infero Eseri Gratas, disasustos vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te. Victamas Veras”._ The wind picked up while the two witches chanted as they got closer. _“Phasmatos Tribum, Niha Sue Exilum, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te”._ They continued chanting as they watched Klaus’ body contort in painful shapes as he screamed. Emerson was about to continue with the spell when she felt a presence so strong it hit her like a speeding train and Bonnie could feel her magic receding, “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s not right” Emerson whispered absentmindedly, her eyes wondering around for something she didn’t know until suddenly they caught sight of a dark figure standing on the edge of the woods, watching her. She turned to Klaus and saw his face change, their spell wasn’t working and Klaus screams turned to laughter. “You’re not the only ones who came prepared” he heaved as his body completed the transition.

“Bonnie, you need to get the others out of here”.

“What?! No-”

“Now, Bonnie!” she yelled, leaving no room for argument as her face changed before she ran towards the man trying to block her magic. “It’s you, isn’t it?!” she yelled once she got closer to him, “You’re the one blocking my magic”.

The man only smiled at her in a way that made her blood run cold, “You’re younger than I imagined, and you’re the one who defeats my master?”

“Who are you? And what are you talking about?”

“I am the darkness to your light” he simply said, as if that would be enough to make her understand. She looked at him for a moment before it hit her “It’s you, you’re the reason I’m here” She said frantically, her magic begging to be released “What do you want from me?!” she demanded and he just looked at her as if she’d grown a second head.

“I want you dead, little one”.


	8. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan tries to help, but Bonnie isn't having it.

Emerson walked into the Boarding house in a daze. After her confrontation with that man he just disappeared in front of her, leaving her with so many unanswered questions. If he wanted her dead then why let her go now? Why kill her mother instead of just killing her in the future? There were too many questions and zero answers, one thing was clear though, she had to stop him before he fulfilled his plan, whatever it was.

“What the hell happened there kid? You were supposed to kill Klaus and then you bailed on us!” Damon yelled the moment she walked into the room, he didn’t try to attack her again though, he knew better, but he was pissed all the same. “Leave her alone, Damon” Bonnie said walking up to her and gave her a hug the little girl didn’t want to be released from. “Are you okay? What happened out there?”

Emerson looked over her shoulder and saw everyone focused on her, even Elena was awake, which meant she was gone longer than she thought. “There was someone else there, a man, he was blocking my magic somehow”.

“Where? I didn’t sense anyone there” Bonnie said confused as she let go. “That’s because he only wanted me to know he was there”.

“Who is he?” Stefan asked from the couch he was sitting on with Elena. He could see the fear and worry in her eyes when she first walked in and he got that feeling again, the one of guilt and regret that he couldn’t seem to shake.

She looked at him, a bit surprised by the amount of concern she could hear in his voice, and in that moment all she could see was her dad. “I don’t know, but I think he’s the reason I’m here”.

* * *

 

The man took slow steps through the quarry where just a while ago the child attempted to stop Klaus from breaking the curse. He couldn’t dispute how powerful she was and if he hadn’t interfered she would’ve succeeded in killing the hybrid, but he couldn’t let that happen. He had big plans for the Mikaelson hybrid so he needed him alive.

As he walked closer he noticed the man in question walking towards him in fresh clean clothes. He looked pleased with himself, almost like he was invincible, he wasn’t, but he’d let him think he was. “Thanks for the assist, mate”.

“Hhm” is all he said as he took in his surroundings. He could still feel the magic in the air, it was so pure it made him physically uncomfortable to be around it.

“You said you wanted the girl dead” Klaus tried again, he’s only known this man a week and he’s proven to be quite helpful. In all the centuries he’s been alive he’s never met anyone so powerful and so detached from the world that it made him wonder what his exact plan was. “She was vulnerable and distracted, and yet you let her live”.

“It wasn’t the right time” he said without even looking at him, but it took Klaus by surprise because this was the most he’s spoken to him since they’ve met.

“And when will it be the right time” Klaus asked, getting a bit frustrated with the man. He had big plans for this town and he didn’t need that girl interfering with those plans.

“If that was any of your business, then I would’ve told you” He sneered menacingly, looking at the hybrid for the first time, and Klaus regretted ever saying anything “This is not a partnership, Niklaus. I am loyal only to my master and if you get in the way of his plans I will have no trouble finishing what she started”.

Klaus always believed he was fearless, that nothing on this earth could ever scare him, but as the venom dripped with the other man’s words alone, he finally knew what true fear was.

* * *

 

Bonnie sat on the floor of her living room going through her grimoire for any kind of clue that could help them. They left the boarding house after Emerson told them what happened with the man at the quarry and she hasn’t been able to get to sleep since they got home. That’s how she ended up in her living room floor at two o’clock in the morning going through her grimoire. At least Emerson was getting some sleep, which she was grateful for because the girl has been putting herself through the ringer since she got here.

She was about to go fetch Emerson’s grimoire to search for clues when she heard a knock on the door, making her jump a bit because who could possibly be at her door this late. Her phone wasn’t ringing off the hook so she knew nothing bad happened to Elena, so who the hell would be knocking at her door at this hour. “Only one way to find out” she huffed in a whisper before heading towards the door, only to be surprised by the person standing on the other side.

“What are you doing here, Stefan?” She asked the man standing on her porch at two o’clock in the morning.

“I couldn’t sleep” he said, a bit nervous and she squinted her eyes suspiciously. “So I thought I could come by and check on her. I wasn’t going to knock or bother you or anything, but then I saw the light on and I…” he stopped his rambling, letting his unfinished sentence hang awkwardly between them. He wasn’t sure what else to say, he’d known before deciding to come here that Bonnie wouldn’t exactly welcome him with open arms, at this point he wasn’t even sure if she still saw him as a friend and judging by the look she was giving him right now he knew she didn’t trust him.

“Why now?” she finally asked, catching him off guard.

“I uh-”

“I mean, she’s been here for over a week, and other than when you needed help with Elena you haven’t had any real contact with her so I’m just wondering, why now?” she asked again, crossing her arms over her chest and that guilt settled in again, letting him know what a complete and utter jerk he’s been.

“I want to help” he said and that made her laugh, like full on, hunched over, hand slapping your thigh laugh, because he couldn’t be serious right now. Bonnie wasn’t an idiot, she knew how upset Elena was about having Emerson around and even though she tried to hide it she knew that the fifteen year old was just a reminder that her relationship with Stefan wasn’t going to last and that was tearing her apart.

Bonnie understood that to an extent, and she got that she was upset, any sane girl would be. What took her a minute to figure out though was why she let it go so easily. She was busy preparing the spell when it hit her, knocking her off her feet and her heart broke right there in one of the guest rooms in the boarding house.

Stefan waited awkwardly for her to stop laughing and when she finally looked at him she had actual tears in her eyes from laughing so much, but somehow he knew she didn’t think what he said was funny at all. “I’m serious, Bonnie” he said, a little offended that she would just laugh in his face. She stopped laughing then and wiped the tears from her eyes, “Of course you are, because you don’t want your future daughter to be wiped from existence” she said, but he knew she was being sarcastic so he let her vent. “And that’s why you promised Elena that you wouldn’t let anything come between the love you two share, because you wanted to help”.

That set him back and the guilt was back with a vengeance, “Bonnie, no I-”

“Save it, Stefan” she said cutting him off “I’m not an idiot, you promised Elena that you would change the future for her, that you would erase your own daughter from existence, for her” she said tears lining up in her eyes again, but she wasn’t laughing this time. “As far as I’m concerned, the man after us isn’t the real monster, you are” she said shoving him this time, but he didn’t even move. She wiped the tear that escaped her eyes and stepped back into the house. He tried to follow after her, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier which further cemented the nature of their relationship. He’s known her for two years and yet has never been inside her house, that realization settled between them as Bonnie whispered “Stay away from us, Stefan” and slammed the door in his face.

He stood there for a minute, staring at the closed door until the light went out inside and quietly stepped away from the porch and walked towards his car. Bonnie was right, he was a monster and the fact that he would even consider killing someone who was a part of him only proved that.

* * *

 

_“You always were stubborn” Sheila said from beside her as they watched the train wreck unfold before them from the other side._

_“She’s hurt, but she’ll see that she needs him” Bonnie told her grandmother, even though she wasn’t so sure. This was so different from how it happened the first time, but she believed that her past self would eventually let Stefan in before it was too late._

_“She doesn’t have the same feelings for him that you do” Sheila said and Bonnie sighed because she knew her grams was right, she didn’t have any feelings for Stefan back then. He was always Elena’s, until he wasn’t._

_“He’s not going to give up on them” is all she said and Sheila knew that she wasn’t talking to her anymore, it almost sounded like she was willing it to be true and Sheila hoped for the same, the fate of the world depended on it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I'm probably going to go radio silent for the next three works because I have some assignments due that I need to finish, but hopefully the three chapters I've put up will hold you over until I post my next chapter.  
> I hope you guys are still enjoying this. Please drop a comment to tell me what you think and if you like it, please leave a kudos.


	9. Marquis of Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerson's learns a bit about the man after her.

_She could see him standing by the quarry waiting for her and even though she couldn’t see his face clearly, she could still feel the darkness around him which screamed for her to run the other direction. She doesn’t know what it was that possessed her to continue forward, maybe it was her desperate need for answers, or maybe she really did have a death wish._

_“How am I here?” she asked when she was close enough. “I told you, we are connected, and it’s because of that connection that I am able to get in your head and feed on your worst fears”._

_“If you want me dead then why not just kill me? Why the mind games?”_

_He chuckled then, but there was nothing humorous about it, “To torture you, little one. I want you to experience it all, the pain, the suffering, the pure agony of watching your parents die in front of you to a point where you wish you were dead yourself, I want you to beg for it” he said close to her ear and with every word he spoke she felt herself losing control of her magic._

_“I won’t let you hurt them” she grounded out as tears filled her eyes._

_“I would love to see you try and stop me” he said grabbing a hold of her neck and try as she might she couldn’t break free from his hold. “Who are you?” she choked out as she felt herself get weaker from the lack of air reaching her lungs._

“Emerson”

_“My name is Aamon”_

“Em, come on. Wake up!”

She woke up with a start, almost flying off her bed as she tried to catch her breath and couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes. He had his hands around her neck and she’s never felt as helpless in her life as she did in that moment. How was she supposed to keep him from hurting anyone she loved if she couldn’t even defend herself?

“Em, it’s okay, it’s okay. It’s just me” Bonnie said trying to calm her down and Emerson finally noticed her for the first time since she woke up. Bonnie could see the absolute fear and devastation in her eyes from whatever dream she had. She could hear her moaning from all the way down the hall and when she got to her room she could hear her crying in her sleep, while she inadvertently used a levitation spell to make the things in her room float.

When the girl finally calmed down everything around them dropped to the floor again, making her jump a little because she hadn’t realized she had done that. “I’m sorry” is all she could get out before Bonnie pulled her into her arms, hoping to bring her some comfort.

“What happened?” she whispered after a while, when Emerson had finally stopped crying. “He got into my head and I couldn’t do anything” she whispered, unable to look at her mom and Bonnie felt her own eyes begin to sting, “Bonnie, how am I supposed to protect you when I can’t even protect myself?”

Bonnie lifted her head then, making her look at her “Hey, we’ll protect each other. It’s what Bennetts do, we take care of our own”.

Emerson nodded in agreement, she wanted to ask her if that included Stefan too, but decided against it. “Aamon” she said instead and Bonnie gave her a confused look. “His name, he called himself Aamon”.

Bonnie’s blood ran cold at the name, that’s why she couldn’t sense him. “He’s not a supernatural” Bonnie found herself saying, her mind working on overdrive as she put it all together in her mind and Emerson was confused this time “That’s why I couldn’t sense him before, he’s not supernatural”.

“What is he then?” Emerson asked, a little scared of the response.

“He’s the Prince of hell” Bonnie said getting up from the bed then and started pacing the room “Grams once told me that an Aamon almost led our coven to extinction. His existence is why you never find a lot of Bennetts in one place, for safety reasons we were forced to separate after the witch trials in Salem” Bonnie continued to tell her about their family’s history, about how they had to go into hiding and blend in with regular humans so that the demon couldn’t find them.

They never stopped trying to destroy him though, never stopped believing that they could stop the apocalypse. “You’re the key, Em” Bonnie continued as she finally came to a stop in front of her. “Vampires can’t procreate, and you can’t be a witch and a vampire at the same time, it’s against the laws of nature, and yet here you are, the first of your kind” she said in awe.

_“You were never meant to live a simple life, Em”._

Her dad said that to her once and she never understood what he meant, she gets it now. “This isn’t just about our family is it?”

Bonnie shook her head sympathetically at the little girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders and sat down next to her, holding her hand. “No, it’s not”.

* * *

 

Alaric was busy preparing for his history lesson when he got an urgent phone call from Bonnie, asking him to come to her house with his demonology books. He was about to walk out the door when he was met with the younger Salvatore on the other side of the door, looking like a man on a mission.

“Stefan”.

“Sorry for bothering you so early” he said before he noticed him carrying his backpack, “Are you heading out?”

“Um, yeah. Bonnie needs help so I was headed over there right now” Stefan’s head perked up at that. After he left her house last night he hadn’t gotten any sleep and he’d made a decision that he was going to help Bonnie whether she wanted it or not so he decided to seek out Alaric to help him do some research. Apparently great minds think alike seeing as Bonnie called him as well.

“Do you mind if I uh tag along?” he asked, knowing full well that he was probably going to get another tongue lashing from Bonnie, but he was sure she’d done most of it last night and hoped she was calmer this morning. “Sure” Alaric stepped out and closed the door behind him. Damon filled him in on what he missed when he was…gone. He still couldn’t believe that Bonnie and Stefan had a daughter. It wasn’t that hard to imagine the two of them together, but what really shocked him was the fact that they had a kid. That wasn’t supposed to be possible.

“So, how does Elena feel about all of this?” he asked the younger Salvatore and immediately saw him stiffen at the mention of her name and Alaric knew that Stefan still had some hard decisions to make. “She’s not great, but it’s not something I can change, I know that now” Stefan said sounding thoughtful.

“Have you talked to her?”

“Not since we faced Klaus” he sighed, which has only been a few hours but he was already dreading having this conversation with her. Stefan has always been a straightforward guy and always tried to keep his promises, which is why Elena trusted that he meant what he said, but this was one promise he had to break, and even though he knew that it would completely ruin their relationship, he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

Alaric could see that this whole situation was messing him up inside and he could sympathize with him, this was new territory for all of them. There was no guide book on how to handle your future daughter travelling back in time. Alaric sighed before patting Stefan on the shoulder as he closed the door to his apartment and led him out of the building and towards the Bennett Household. 

* * *

 

Emerson opened the door to find Stefan and Alaric standing there. She felt them coming so she went right ahead and opened the door before they could knock, which was probably kinda creepy now that she thought about it. She knew Alaric was coming by, but she wasn’t expecting to see Stefan too it was a bit of a surprise to see him here this early.

“Hey, um Stefan, we weren’t expecting you”.

“Um yeah, I actually went to ask for Alaric’s help when he told me he was coming here so I thought I’d tag along”.

“Everything okay?” Emerson asked a little worried about him and he nodded with an awkward smile, “Uh, yeah. I probably should’ve been clearer, I wanted him to help me with what’s happening with you actually” he said and she smiled, a little surprised. “Oh” she said suddenly feeling the urge to hug him. They stood there awkwardly for a minute before it finally occurred to her to actually invite them in. “I’m being rude, yeah, I’m being totally rude” she said nodding to herself. “Please come in” she said opening the door wider for them to come in. “Bonnie’s still in the shower so she’ll be down soon” she said leading them into the living room. Stefan felt a bit awkward just walking into Bonnie’s house without her inviting him in and he knew she wasn’t going to be happy seeing as she made it pretty clear that she didn’t want him there. He was kinda relieved though that she seemingly hadn’t told Emerson that he promised Elena he would change the future for her. He wouldn’t be okay with having her mad at him as well.

“I don’t know if Bonnie told you why she wanted you to come here?” she asked Alaric, breaking Stefan from his thoughts. “No, she just said to come here urgently and to bring my demonology books”.

“Oh, well um, last night I had a dream, well it wasn’t really a dream, more of a-” she said cutting herself off, finding it hard to express what she meant. “That man helping Klaus, he got into my head last night because he said we are connected somehow” she started and Stefan’s eyes immediately went wide at that “What?” he asked, a little louder than he intended, making the other two people in the room stare at him. “It’s okay, I’m fine. But he did tell me his name”.

“What is it?” Stefan asked as he took in what she was saying. “Aamon”.

“He’s a demon” Alaric spoke up, taking out the book where he’d seen that name. “Take a look at this”. He said handing Stefan the book to read from.

_Aamon is a Marquis of hell. He is the seventh of the 72 Goetic demons who governs forty infernal legions. He tells of all things past and future. According to the Grand Grimoire, he is a direct subordinate of Satanachia and he is said to be the Prince of hell._

“So a demon wants Emerson dead, but why?” Stefan said once he was done reading the passage. “The first time we met he told me that I supposedly defeated his master” she said, remembering their first meeting. “I didn’t know what he was talking about, but now that I think about it, it probably happened further in the future than where I’m from”.

“Yeah and simply going back in time to kill you won’t do it because as long as your parents are alive you will always be born, especially if witches are involved” Alaric said in thought, everything starting to make sense.

“And that’s why he kills Bonnie” Emerson said, but refused to dwell on that because she was not about to let her die. Not if there was anything she could do to stop it. “Bonnie said that I was the key, that Aamon has been after our family for centuries meaning my ancestors have always been a threat to him. I don’t think he sees everything though otherwise he would’ve made his move before you guys even met, his visions of the future probably come to him gradually”.

“The key to what?” Alaric asked, seeing the same familiar thoughtful look on her face that he’s seen so often on Stefan’s face and she looked so much like him in that moment that any doubt he might’ve had about them being related completely disappeared from his mind.

“To stopping him and his master from succeeding in whatever they are planning”.

Stefan was about to speak again when they heard Bonnie jogging down the stairs and turning the corner to the living room “Sorry I took so long, I was-” She was already saying as she walked into the living room and stopped short when she saw Stefan standing in her living room with a book in his hands. Their confrontation from last night was still fresh in her mind and as she watched him awkwardly smile at her with a guilty look on his face she could feel her anger start to build up again as she ground out “What the hell are you doing here?”

* * *

 

Elena sat in the living room of the boarding house waiting for Stefan. She wanted to get there early so they could spend the day together seeing as she almost died last night, but he wasn’t responding to her texts and she was getting worried. “Do you know where he went?” she asked Damon as he walked into the parlor and went to pour himself some bourbon. “Seeing as I’m not my brother’s keeper, Elena, I’m going to say no” He said, taking a sip of his drink. She rolled her eyes at him, not looking forward to spending however long it took Stefan to get back making small talk with Damon. When she first got there she was hoping to surprise him, but he wasn’t there. At first she thought he might’ve gone hunting, but she figured he would’ve been back by now.

Damon watched her fiddle with her phone, waiting for Stefan to text her back. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t know where he went, but after seeing the fearful look on his brother’s face last night after Emerson told them what happened, and also the fact that he hadn’t seen him since they left, he had a pretty good idea of where he went. This whole situation was kinda messed up and he couldn’t say he envied Stefan even a little bit. He did admire him though, the future version of him anyway, for being able to break their century old curse of being in love with the same woman and finding happiness after being doomed to repeat history. As he watched Elena, he wished he could have the same courage to break the hold this woman seemed to have on him.

“So are you just going to stare at me all day or are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?” Elena asked, seeing thoughtful look on his face. Damon was hardly ever serious about anything so to see him so thoughtful right now was throwing her off. “I was just wondering how you were handling this kid being here”.

She sighed then, other than with Stefan, she hadn’t shared how she felt with anyone else and she knew that Damon cared about her so maybe offloading some of her feelings on him would help her somehow. “I don’t know” she said getting up and walking closer to him, “I know that it’s not her fault that she has to be here, but constantly seeing her, Damon, it just reminds me that Stefan and I don’t last”. She poured herself a drink too and downed it in one swig, “Stefan told me that he would fight for us, and I believe him. I don’t know I guess I’ll feel better about it once she’s gone”.

Damon looked at her in shock for a moment, but she didn’t seem to notice as she continued to vent. Elena has always been pure and loving, but looking at her now, he couldn’t help but see Katherine. “You really think Stefan will do it?” he asked seriously, and she finally looked at him again. Damon knew his brother, when they were kids he was the guy that always talked about getting married and having kids, and when they got turned he knew that it broke his heart to learn that he would never get that.

As much as Elena has come to consume their lives, he knew that the kid that wanted a family of his own was still in there, even though he tried to hide it. “Stefan would do anything for me, Damon”.

* * *

 

“Bonnie”.

“Don’t you dare ‘Bonnie’ me right now” She spit out, “I told you I didn’t want you here, Stefan”.

“What is she talking about, Stefan?” Emerson asked confused, and Bonnie turned to her as if she was noticing her for the first time. “Look Bonnie, I made a mistake okay, and I want to make it right” Stefan said as if she hadn’t said anything.

“And what happens when you decide to change your mind again?” Bonnie asked, and all of a sudden Alaric felt like he was intruding on a personal moment. “Stefan, I have watched you be in love with Elena for the past two years, you came back to Mystic falls for her and you chose her over everyone else” she said deflated, because Elena was Stefan’s life, it was a fact no one could dispute and as she listened to herself say all these things she realized that she really had no right to be so upset because that’s how it’s been for the past two years. “You made your choice, Stefan, now please leave us alone”.

As they listened to her it suddenly all made sense why she was so upset. Emerson knew that something happened with Elena and Stefan, she wasn’t an idiot. One minute Elena was upset and heartbroken and the next they looked more in love than ever, Emerson didn’t take it personally, if it meant that it would spare her dad the heartache of losing his wife and watching his only child be erased from existence then she’d rather watch him choose Elena. “I just want to help, please let me”.

“Stop” Emerson said firmly before Bonnie could respond, but it sounded like a whisper and they turned in time to watch her disappear in front of their eyes. “Oh my gosh” Bonnie choked out as they looked on in horror and Stefan grabbed a firm hold of her as she lost her footing from the shock. He couldn’t believe his eyes either, in his head he knew that the whole reason for her being here was because she was being wiped from the timeline, but to actually watch it happen in front of him felt like a piece of his heart was being ripped from his chest. How could he feel so strongly about someone he barely even knew?

Alaric watched as Stefan pulled Bonnie to his chest as her breath caught in her throat at the shock of watching her future daughter disappear in front of them. Alaric has seen a lot of things in his life, but nothing ever prepared him for what he just witnessed right now. Bonnie buried her head in his chest as she sobbed quietly while Stefan rubbed her back in comfort, feeling a sense of comfort himself in knowing that someone else knew exactly how he was feeling right now so he just kept his hold on her as she cried.

“Guys look” Alaric said as he watched Emerson reappear in front of them. Bonnie lifted her head and turned around in time to see her reappear in front of them with the same sad expression she had before she disappeared. Without thinking, Bonnie lunged towards her, pulling her into a bone crushing hug as she cried on her shoulder. Emerson looked up at Stefan in confusion as she held onto Bonnie and saw the exact same look of horror in his eyes as she did the first time she disappeared months ago.

“It happened again, didn’t it?” she asked in fear as Bonnie finally pulled away and Stefan nodded. “How long?”

“About 3 minutes” Alaric was the one to answer, and she looked at him in horror, it was taking longer for her to come back. “Emerson, we’re not going to let you be wiped from existence, we’ll figure this out” Alaric tried to reassure her as he saw the look of fear in her eyes.

She smiled at him gratefully as Stefan approached her, nodding in agreement. He hesitated for a moment before pulling her into his arms and she melted in them, it was as if he knew exactly what she needed right then and willingly gave it to her. As Stefan let her cry against his chest he looked up at Bonnie, making eye contact with her and even though he didn’t say anything she knew exactly what he wanted to say, _you’re not in this alone._


	10. Bad dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guys

Bonnie laid in her bed trying to convince herself that whatever she was hearing was none of her business because it really wasn’t so she turned her head instead and looked at Emerson sleeping beside her. She heard another groan coming from the next room and looked at the door again. She really didn’t want to go look, but the noise was keeping her up so what was the alternative, and not for the first time since she agreed to this stupid plan, she regretted it.

Four weeks, that’s how long it’s been since Emerson disappeared in front of their eyes, four weeks since she finally let Stefan help them and four weeks since she’s been getting a look of absolute betrayal from Elena because Stefan broke up with her. She wasn’t there when it happened, but he did tell them that being with Elena didn’t feel right anymore, not when he knew what little he did of the future and Emerson had already carved her way into his heart, so she couldn’t dispute that. The girl had the power to get them to do whatever she wanted, which is why Bonnie was in this mess.

Stefan insisted on staying with them in case anything happened and Bonnie said no at first because it was a bad idea. Elena already hated her, and the last thing she wanted was to add fuel to the fire of her hatred by letting her ex-boyfriend stay with them. Secondly, she was perfectly capable of protecting the two of them, but then Emerson came with her forest green eyes and her begging, telling her that letting Stefan stay made her feel better and that he was her father after all. So Bonnie reluctantly agreed and now she was regretting it because she couldn’t get to sleep.

They gave Stefan the only other bedroom in the house, the room Emerson was sleeping in, which meant they had to bunk together. Bonnie didn’t mind sleeping in the same bed as her future daughter, what she did mind was the noise. Stefan was talking in his sleep again, it’s been happening every day since he basically moved in two weeks ago and every night she’s tried to keep herself from going to look, from asking him about it in the morning, but somehow tonight was different. She never heard what he was saying, but she could always hear the sounds he made, and instead of his usual grunts and mumbles, he seemed to be begging and pleading and she couldn’t take it.

That’s probably why she finally found herself outside his room debating whether or not to go in. Taking a deep breath she ripped off the bandage and walked through the door. As she got closer she noticed that he was sweating and wondered whether those were tears rolling down his cheeks as he continued to mumble incoherently. Seeing him like this didn’t sit right with her, maybe it was the way he restlessly tossed and turned in bed or maybe the fact that he looked like he might be in pain, whatever it was she didn’t like seeing it so she reached out and shook him awake.

“No, stop!” he yelled shooting up in bed breathing heavily as he frantically took in his surroundings. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s just me” she said resting her hand on his shoulder in order to get his attention. He calmed down once he remembered where he was. He’s been having the same dream every day since he moved in and he wondered if that was why Bonnie was in his room, could she hear him from her room?

“Are you okay?” she asked a little worried when he just looked at her and finally got her answer, those were definitely tears that she saw before. She didn’t ask him about it though, she couldn’t bring herself to do it and figured if he wanted to talk about it then he would. “Yeah, I’m fine” he said as he leaned against the headboard and she dropped her hand, realizing that she was still holding onto his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I woke you”.

“It’s okay, I was up anyway” she lied, not having the heart to tell him that she’s been losing sleep because he’s been waking her up for the past two weeks. He seemed to be having enough problems and judging by the look on his face they really had him freaked out. He knew she was lying though, cause even if the dark shadows under her eyes didn’t give her away, he started noticing little things about her like how she spoke with her hands when she was lying, Emerson was the same way and he found their similarities really endearing, but he didn’t mention it.

He shook his head then trying to get the dream out of his mind because she was fine, they were all fine and that was enough. There was no way he was going to fall asleep again now though so he just got out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash his face. He could feel her watching him from the doorway and wondered why she was still there, he didn’t mind it, but things were still so awkward between them and he didn’t know if she was still mad about the whole Elena thing. He didn’t think she was because she was nice enough to let him stay with them and they were working together to help Emerson, but they haven’t been alone together since that night she told him to leave them alone so things were awkward and he didn’t know how to fix it.

He used his face towel to wipe his face and turned to her again. “Well uhm, you’re okay so I’m going to head back to my room” she said pointing to the door and quickly turned around to leave only to hesitate by the door. She didn’t know what she was thinking, but she didn’t want to leave him by himself after a dream that clearly scared him and it wasn’t like she was going to get back to sleep any time soon anyway and she didn’t mind the company, even if it was from a guy she barely felt comfortable with. “Actually, I was going to practice some magic from Emerson’s grimoire, you know, learn some of the spells I created in the future so I can help her” she said, turning around, and that was another thing he noticed about her, she rambled. It was kinda entertaining and as much as he knew he should probably help her along, he enjoyed it too much. “Anyway, I was going to head out, but it’s late and I didn’t want to go out this late by myself with an evil demon on the loose so I guess what I was wondering is if you wanted to come with?” she asked awkwardly, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, by the way, I can just do some small spells in the house. Actually, that sounds like a good idea so I’m just gonna…” His laughter finally stopped her rambling and she looked kinda annoyed then. “Are you laughing at me, Stefan?”

“I’m sorry” he stopped, trying to regain his composure. “I didn’t mean to, it’s just-”

“Just what?” she asked getting a little defensive because apparently, this is who she was now. She was this defensive person who took everything the wrong way and she wondered if she’d always be like this now.

“Nothing” he stopped himself from saying what he really wanted to say, like how before the whole Klaus mess she’s always been the only person to get a real laugh out of him or how sorry he was sorry that she lost her ability to laugh and be happy after her grams died because of him. There were a lot of things Stefan wanted to say to Bonnie, but his fear held him back, how was he supposed to express himself without opening up old wounds so he didn’t say what he really wanted to say to her. “Of course I’ll go with you, I’ll even let you use me as target practice”.

She relaxed a bit then and even gave him a small grateful smile because she didn’t trust what would come out of her own mouth. She didn’t seem to know how to act around Stefan these days and it would take her a minute to learn how, but for now, she’d settle for this awkward new situation they’ve found themselves in.

* * *

 

Emerson woke up the next morning wondering where they were. It wasn’t long after she woke up though that she picked up on Bonnie’s heartbeat and went looking for them downstairs. They were going back to school today just so they’d have a semblance of a normal life and seeing as it didn’t look like she was going anywhere anytime soon they decided to get her enrolled as well. Stefan had compelled the admissions office into accepting her in their grade so she’d be in their classes and they’d decided on a buddy system so that she was never alone in case Aamon decided to try something again. The fact that he seemed to have fallen off the face of the Earth wasn’t comforting, something big was coming and they had to be prepared for it.

She couldn’t help the smile that graced her face when she walked into the living room and found them asleep on the couch together. Stefan was leaning against the couch with his arm around Bonnie’s waist while her head was on his chest as they both slept. They looked so peaceful that she took out her phone and took a picture. The snap of the camera woke Stefan and he looked up at her still half asleep and saw her waving at him with a bright smile on her lips. He was about to get up, but there was something weighing him down and when he looked to see what it was the first thing he noticed was Bonnie’s head of curls as she slept on his chest.

They came back early this morning and decided to sit on the couch to wait for the sunrise and even talked for a bit. Stefan remembered them having a pleasant conversation and he even told her about Emily, which she seemed to appreciate, but he couldn’t remember them falling asleep. “Morning” she said softly, careful not to wake Bonnie and Stefan looked back up at her, giving her a tired smile. “Hey, Em. What time is it?”

“06:30, we have an hour before we gotta leave for school” she said and that woke him up because he’d completely forgotten that they were going back to school today and he looked down at Bonnie, not wanting to wake her up just yet. She’d really overexerted herself last night so she needed to rest for a bit longer. “Okay, go take a shower while I get breakfast ready and we’ll let Bonnie sleep for a few more minutes” he said and she nodded before bolting up the stairs again. Stefan took one last look at Bonnie before reluctantly peeling himself from her, and laying her on the couch. He tried not to think about how this has been the best night sleep he’s had in a really long time as he walked to the kitchen to make them some food.


	11. A part of Me

Bonnie walked through the school halls feeling awkward because the students at this school weren’t exactly subtle when it came to staring or whispering gossip for that matter. She already knew that Elena had spread rumors about her regarding why her relationship with Stefan ended so suddenly.

Bonnie’s never been great at socializing with people, all her friends were people she grew up with and she was very bad at making new ones, Elena was always the social butterfly of their little group which made her popular amongst their peers and made Bonnie popular by association. When Stefan moved to Mystic Falls and started dating Elena, their popularity skyrocketed, becoming the school’s power couple. Needless to say, they were the standard against which all other relationships at their school were set and for them to suddenly not be together was unacceptable so you don’t need to guess who got the blame for their split.

Now, Bonnie never cared what people thought about her, she wasn’t some insecure girl who looked for people’s approval in order to feel like she’s worth something. She was never that girl, but she wasn’t deaf either.

_“That’s her best friend’s boyfriend, how could she do that?!”_

_“I always knew she was jealous of their relationship”._

_“What a bitch!”_

_“What is he doing with a girl like her anyway?!”_

She heard them all as she continued down the hall with Emerson and for the most part she didn’t care, the last comment gave her pause though, “A girl like her”, she knew what they meant of course, she’s heard it all her life and living in a small town with barely a handful of black people in Virginia didn’t help either, but she’s learnt to ignore the comments for the most part, learnt to drown out the voices of people telling her that they sympathized with what a girl like her must go through with a head full of curls and that she should rather straighten it so it looks more ‘tame’, or comments about how it’s more natural for a girl like her to have an absentee parent so it wasn’t really surprising. She’s heard them all and now was no different, she did suddenly feel bad for Jeremy though because they didn’t go through this when they dated because according to them, he was the teen druggie with issues, just her type so it was okay for him to date a girl like her. He was never placed on the same level as his sister, he was nobody so it didn’t matter that he dated a girl like her.

But now things were different, everything was changing again and she had a spotlight on her she didn’t ask for. She felt Emerson slip her hand in hers and squeeze it, and realized that Emerson wasn’t deaf either, but the young teen didn’t say anything, which Bonnie was grateful for and wondered if her daughter had to go through this too. Did it shock people to see her walk around with Stefan only to find out it’s her dad? She hoped not.

“Hey Bon” Caroline greeted when they finally got to her locker. “Hey Care” she said opening her locker and sneaked a look at Caroline before taking out her books. She could see the sympathetic look on her face and she knew she heard too. Other than Alaric and Damon, Caroline was the only other person that knew that Stefan was living with them. Caroline has been great, helping out where she can and shunning Elena, which Bonnie appreciated, but had told Caroline was completely unnecessary. They were friends too and their friendship shouldn’t be ruined just because hers and Elena’s was, but the blonde had insisted that she didn’t recognize Elena anymore especially after the rumors she’d started spreading.

“Is she okay?” Caroline asked Emerson. “I’m right here, Caroline” Bonnie responded closing her locker before Emerson had a chance to.

“I know that, but you’re in no condition to answer this question”.

“She’s in no condition to answer what question?” Stefan asked from behind them. They’d split up earlier, with him choosing to go to the admissions office to get Emerson’s schedule and sort out her transcripts. Stefan looked at the three of them wondering what was going on. He was having the weirdest morning, when he was at the admissions office one of their classmates, Dana, stopped him before he could leave and told him that this was just a bump and that him and Elena would find their way back to each other, which he thought was weird because firstly it was none of her business and secondly looking at the three girls in front of him now and the guilty look on Caroline’s face, he wondered if Dana was implying that Bonnie was the bump.

“Nothing” Bonnie was the one to respond and then continued down the hall with them trailing behind her. Stefan handed Emerson her things and grabbed a hold of Bonnie’s shoulder to stop her. After last night, he thought they were making some progress, but the fact that she seemed to be closing herself off again was bothering him. “What’s going on Bonnie?” he asked before catching the tail end of someone else’s conversation. _“…with her? Elena is way hotter”._

_“Maybe he wanted to taste some chocolate”._

Stefan was just short of using his vamp speed as he marched up to those guys and pinned the one who made the last comment against the lockers. “What did you just say?” he sneered, the venom dripping from his lips and even without vamping out the two guys looked pretty terrified. “I-I’m sorry, man. We didn’t mean anything by it”.

“Stefan, stop!” he barely heard Bonnie yell from behind him. He couldn’t believe they could make a comment like that right in front of them. It made sense why she was upset now, everyone was talking about her, judging her for something she didn’t even do. “You’re going to apologize to her and then you going to make sure that I don’t see your face. You see me coming, turn around and go a different direction because if I have to look at your face again I won’t be responsible for what I do” he threatened the two guys and he didn’t have to compel them for them to do as he said.

“How dare you interfere?” Bonnie accused in a dangerously low voice. She could feel her anger slowly rising to the surface and if she didn’t leave soon then she’d say something she’d regret later. “I told you to stop, but you wouldn’t listen”.

“Bonnie, I wasn’t going to let them-”

“And now you’ve basically confirmed rumors that aren’t even true” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, indicating at the small crowd Stefan’s outburst had attracted and he finally realized what he did wrong, which seemed to be a regular occurrence with them now. She looked at him with pure anger and distrust. “Bonnie, I-“

“Leave me alone, Stefan” she said, already walking away from them. He was about to go after her when Emerson stopped him. “Let her go. Come on, you and I are going to have a little conversation about shooting yourself in the foot” she said pulling him by the sleeve of his jacket and towards an empty classroom.

“Alright, disperse people, there’s nothing to see here” Caroline snapped getting her fellow students to go on about their business and then sighed as she went in search of her best friend.

* * *

 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Emerson asked the moment she closed the door behind her. Her father could be so dense sometimes, just when she thought they’d made some headway he goes and does this.

“Em, you heard what they said, I wasn’t just going to let them think of her that way” he said pointing to the door behind them. “Yes I did hear and so did Bonnie, but you didn’t see her up in arms about it”.

“Exactly, she just let them spread rumors about her and I couldn’t let them get away with it”.

“Stefan, sit” she said pointing at the desk next to her and she sat down as well. “I don’t know if you know this, but Bonnie can take care of herself. She’s not some damsel that needs saving, she’s not Elena so stop treating her like she is” she said once he’d sat down and he was about to protest, but she stopped him with a finger. “Bonnie has been dealing with this crap her whole life, the black girl in a sea of white people and she doesn’t entertain what they say about her because she knows it’s not true and people who actually matter to her know none of it is true, which is enough”.

“She shouldn’t have to deal with it” he said quietly, feeling bad that he’s never noticed it before now. “You’re right she shouldn’t, but unfortunately that’s not how life works. You need to let her handle it her own way otherwise you’ll always end up shooting yourself in the foot”.

“What am I supposed to do then?” he asked, really curious because it seemed like no matter how hard he tried he only seemed to succeed in making her hate him.

“You’re supposed to listen to her”.

* * *

 

After school Emerson decided that it was time that she and Elena had a talk. She didn’t want Stefan and Bonnie to worry about her so she told them she was going shopping with Caroline and that they should go home without her. “We’re not going shopping, are we?” Caroline asked as they pulled out of the school parking lot in her car. “No”.

“You want me to take you to go see Elena, don’t you” she said eyeing the young girl from her peripheral vision and she looked surprised that she already knew her plan. “How did you know that?”

“You’re not my first Bennett witch” she said simply as they continued down the road. It’s one of the things Caroline loved about Bonnie, she was very loyal and she always protected her own, and her daughter wasn’t any different. They got to Elena’s pretty quickly and judging by the car in the driveway they knew she was home. Caroline was about to get out of the car when Emerson stopped her. “No, I don’t want her to feel ambushed, that’s not what this is, I just want to talk to her so stay here please, I’ll be right back” she said and Caroline reluctantly nodded in agreement before Emerson got out of the car and headed for the front door.

She didn’t wait long before Elena opened the door. “What are you doing here?”

“I just want to talk, can I come in?” she asked and Elena hesitated for a minute before opening up her door for the girl to walk through. “If you’re here to defend what your precious mother did then save your breath”.

“No, actually I’m here to politely ask you to stop spreading rumors about my mother. If you think it’ll help you win back my dad then you’re wrong, it won’t so please stop”.

“They’re not rumors if they’re true. Bonnie stole Stefan from me and if you want proof of that fact than just look in the mirror” she sneered gesturing towards her so that she got that she was the result of their betrayal.

Emerson snorted then because this girl really was a piece of work and she was tired of her ‘woe is me’ act. She pulled out the journal in her backpack then, choosing to make a decision that would put her future at risk, but her future was already at risk so the only thing left was to show Elena that she wasn’t some saint who got screwed over and that whatever decision she made from now on would only be a reflection of who she was and not because of anything anyone did to her. She replicated the text into a new page before tearing off the page and handing it to her. “You want to know about the future? Read it, and tell me who betrayed who”.

She was about to walk out the door when she thought of one more thing she wanted to say. “You can mess with me all you want, Elena, you can even try to erase me from existence that’s fine, but mess with my mother again and you’ll have me to deal with”. She walked out the door then thinking that the real evil wasn’t the one in plain sight, it was the one hidden behind long brunette hair and doe brown eyes, the one you’d never expect, Emerson knew that now, and if she was ever curious enough to know who the demon was that tried to kill Stefan’s daughter then all she had to do was look in the mirror.

“How’d it go?” Caroline asked as she got into the car with the journal still in her hand. “She got the message”.

* * *

 

The ride home was awkward and even though Stefan tried to talk to her she wouldn’t respond, forcing him to have a one-way conversation with her. Stefan finally decided that he’d had enough when they walked into the house and she still wouldn’t talk to him. She was marching up the stairs when he tried again, “I’ve been having these…dreams or visions I guess, about you” he started and that was enough to stop her mid-step, but she didn’t turn around. “The future you anyway, they’re nice and I think I’ve come to look forward to them because I get to see you smile and make jokes. Seeing her reassures me of how strong you are, of how despite everything you still found a way to be happy, to forgive me, to marry me even though you deserve so much better”. She turned around then with tears stinging her eyes and the sight of them broke him, but he continued anyway understanding that if he wanted her to share any part of herself with him then he had to do the same.

“Ever since I met Elena I think I lost a part of myself. The part that cared about other people because all I cared about was making her happy and making sure that she was safe and well protected, but I know now that I can’t do that with you because you are strong and you can take care of yourself”. He took a chance and started walking up the stairs to meet her halfway where she stood with tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t pull away when he took her hand and held it between them “I never said this to you and I think you need to hear it because you need to know how sorry I am for hurting you. I broke you Bonnie, and I’m sorry. And I’m so sorry for what happened to your grandmother. For what I did to your grandmother” he said sincerely, hot tears burning his own eyes and she sucked in a breath at how sorrowful he looked.

Her grams passed away a year ago, but the way she held onto him as she cried you’d swear it was just yesterday.

At the Gilbert household, Elena finally pulled out the piece of paper that’s been burning her pocket since Emerson gave it to her and immediately recognized Stefan’s handwriting on the page.

_Everything is changing again, I no longer feel the sense of loss I’ve felt for the past couple of months since Elena left me for my brother, instead I feel like I’m getting to know myself again, the me that isn’t Elena’s boyfriend or the ripper of Monterey and I like the guy I am now. I want to continue being that guy, not just for myself but for the person I’ve come to call a friend._

Stefan squeezed Bonnie tighter against his chest as she cried the tears she’s probably been holding in since her grams died. As she cried he felt his own heart breaking because how could they have done this to her and not even known it, how could he have been so blind?

_Bonnie’s always been there, with her quiet grace and beauty, always looking out for everyone else except herself, and asking for nothing in return. I think her breaking point was what finally opened my eyes to the truth of how truly messed up we all were. It was the first time I finally looked past my own anger and hurt and looked at hers, it’s probably what drew me to her, and misery loves company I guess._

Emerson found them sitting on the stairs as she walked through the door. Bonnie had her head buried in his chest, clutching onto his shirt for dear life while he rubbed circles on her back and had his other hand buried in her hair, brushing it soothingly with his fingers. Stefan noticed her first and called her over with a nudge of his head so that she could join them and Emerson obliged with a warm teary smile because in all her life all she’s ever wanted was to have her family, her mother.

_Not giving up on either of us must have been the best decision I ever made because it’s led us to where we are now, with things changing the way they were. She makes me look at things differently and reminds me that everyone matters, not just the few people around me. She’s pulled me out of the darkness I was trapped in and into the light, and I’d like to think I’ve done the same for her._

Elena ripped the paper to shreds the moment she was done because there was no way it was true. She didn’t leave Stefan for Damon, no, she loved him too much and she would never do that.

“Never say never” a voice said from her doorway, making her jump off her bed. “Who the hell are you and how did you get into my house?!” She asked freaked out and grabbed the lamp off her nightstand, ready to use it as a weapon.

“There’s no need for that. I’m not here to hurt you, quite the opposite actually. I’m here to let you know that all your plans will soon become fruitful”.

“Plans? What plans?” she asked more confused now than freaked out by the man suddenly in her room.

“Your plans to kill the hybrid” he said inclining his head, almost as if he was bowing and he turned around walking out the door again. “Wait!” she called to him before he could get very far and he turned back to her, waiting patiently for her to continue. “Are you talking about Emerson? Are you going to kill Emerson for me?” she clarified and he simply nodded.

“Why?”

“Because it’s what you’ve demanded and it is my duty to do it for you”.

“But why would you do that for me?” she asked a little confused again, but not opposed to the idea of getting rid of the Bennetts.

“Because you created me for that purpose”.


	12. Voices In My Head

_August 3, 2020_

Elena stood outside The Salvatore Boarding House nervously twisting her fingers because it's been a year and she was finally going to do what she's been waiting for four years to do.

She was going to get back what was taken away from her, what she never should've let go of all those years ago. Even Damon knew it, its why he broke up with her and skipped town, but as much as she felt guilty for toying with his feelings she couldn't deny how she felt anymore and now was the time to finally be a family with Stefan and their daughter.

She still couldn't believe Stefan had a kid, but it didn't matter because they'd finally be a family. Like it was meant to be.

The idea made her giddy so she knocked on the door before letting herself in and walked to the parlor where Stefan was sitting on the floor while Emerson wobbled over to him and handed him the stuffed rabbit. They named it Miss Cuddles The Second, after the original Miss Cuddles Bonnie had when she was a kid and she swore this was the cutest scene she's seen yet.

"Night night, dada" the one year old said folding her father's arms over Miss Cuddles so he could cradle her.

"You want her to go night night?" He asked rocking the stuffed rabbit and Emerson nodded with a bright smile on her face before kissing the rabit.

"Can dada get a kiss?"

Elena watched the baby hesitate for a moment, considering his request before grabbing his face between her tiny hands and giving him a big sloppy kiss on the mouth.

"Thank you, honey".

"Looks like she has you well trained" Elena said from the entryway, making her presence known.

"Oh hey, Lena" Stefan said looking up from his daughter. "I didn't hear you come in".

"It's okay, how's it going?" She asked as she joined them on the floor, brushing her hand through Emerson's curls and she smiled up at Elena for a moment before turning back to her dad.

"Nighty night, Dada" she said taking Miss Cuddles from his arms again. "Okay" Stefan said getting up and helping them into her crib.

"You gonna go night night with Miss Cuddles?" He asked and the child nodded, already rubbing her eyes.

"Alright, honey" he said kissing her head and not for the first time Elena imagined this being their life.

_"There is no outcome where they don't end up together, Elena. Let me change that"._

"Lena?" Stefan's voice drew her from the taunting voice in her head and she turned to find him picking up some of Emersons stuffed toys.

"Yeah, sorry".

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm good" she said helping him put some of Emerson's stuff away.

"How's work?"

"Good".

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked again skeptically.

_"Let me give you your family"._

"Yeah, why?"

"You're saying good alot" he chuckled and Elena followed him into the kitchen. The place was a mess so Stefan put the baby monitor on the counter, rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

"When was the last time you've been out of this house?" She asked changing the subject as she sat on the counter.

"Em and I went to the park yesterday" he said and Elena shook her head even though his back was to her.

"I mean out out, with other adults, where you didn't have to worry about diaper changes and food in your hair".

"I like doing all that stuff with my daughter" Stefan shrugged washing Em's dishes.

"I get that" she said jumping off the counter and walking over to him. "How about we go to dinner tonight?"

"I don't know, Elena".

"Seriously, Sarah will be back from Witmore soon, right? We can go then and she can watch Emerson" she said in finality and as if she conjured her up, Stefan heard the front door open and Sarah's scent filled the house.

"Hey Kiddo" he heard her whisper through the baby monitor before she made her way into the kitchen.

"Uncle Stefan".

"In here" he said and watched his niece walk in with her camera slung over her shoulder.

Sarah came into their lives four years ago after she came looking for them, wanting to know where she came from. She was his Nephew Zach's daughter, which meant she was family and he knew that seeing her was torture for Damon, so other than his break up with Elena, she was the reason he left. The guilt became too much so staying was no longer an option.

"Oh, hey Elena" she said not really surprised she was there, she's been lurking for the past year biding her time until she got her claws into her uncle again.

Sarah wasn't there for the drama of it all, but Bonnie would talk to her about everything that happened. She loved Bonnie, she was the one who convinced Stefan to get to know her and let her stay with them till she got on her feet. Her death caught them all off-guard, and now they had to move on without her.

"Hey Sarah".

"How long has Em been asleep?" She asked her uncle as she made herself some lunch.

"About half an hour".

"Good. I'm giving her another half hour and then she has to get up otherwise we're not gonna get any sleep tonight".

"I would've woken her up" Stefan said getting a skeptical look from his niece, "would you have?"

"I would've eventually woken her up" he amended and Sarah pointed her sandwich at him for emphasis, "Exactly, that little girl has you wrapped around her little finger".

"She just looks so peaceful" he said and Sarah rolled her eyes because the man was soft. "Oh I forgot to tell you Lucy's coming next week".

"Oh, you called her?" She asked, looking up from her task.

"Yeah so she'll be staying with us for a while".

"Great, I'll prepare the guest room" Sarah said and took a bite out of her sandwich.

"Why's Lucy coming?" Elena asked, confused by the sudden turn the conversation took. Lucy didn't like her, and the feeling was mutual so if she was coming she couldn't come by as much for the sake of peace.

Those were Stefan's words and she hated that he'd pick someone he's only known for a few years over her, the woman he loved.

"Emerson's starting to show signs of being a witch".

"Yeah, I caught her levitating in her sleep the other day and I hate to think what would've happened if I wasn't there" Sarah said sadly, the last thing she wanted was for her little cousin to hurt herself because she didn't know how to use her magic.

"It's great Lucy's coming then" Elena said in a way she hoped sounded optimistic and Sarah had to restrain herself from calling her out on it.

"Uncle Stefan you better get a move on if you don't wana be late for work" Sarah said looking at the time and Stefan cursed under his breath.

He was working part-time at Bob's garage fixing cars. It wasn't much, but it supported them since they couldn't live off of his trust fund forever.

"Stefan don't forget about tonight" Elena said before he could get very far. 

"What's happening tonight?"

"Um, Elena invited me to dinner" Stefan said and Sarah turned to Elena with a smile so wide Elena knew it had to be fake and honestly Stefan was so blind that Sarah wondered what he'd do if she wasn't there.

"Oh she did". Elena nodded, not even hiding the smug look on her face. "Yeah so could you look after Em tonight?"

"Only for a couple of hours, three tops" Stefan said pleadingly and honestly if Sarah didn't think he needed a night out she'd say no, but he did so she nodded in agreement.

She didn't like Elena and as much as she didn't trust her,  she knew her uncle could handle himself and would stop her if she crossed a line.

"Sure, Em and I are going to have a great time".

"Thanks Sarah" he said and kissed her hair before rushing out the door.

* * *

 

"Lala!" Emerson yelled impatiently hanging onto the bars of her crib, wanting out of this prison they've trapped her in. "Lala, up" she kept repeating, trying to get her cousin's attention.

She was still learning to speak and somehow got Lala from Sarah, which was neither here nor there, but the kid tended to overdo it, like now. "Lala!"

"Okay, okay" Sarah said rushing into the room with Em's sippy cup in hand and picked her up, handing her the bottle. "Don't get you diapers in a twist kiddo".

Emerson giggled when Sarah started rubbing her tummy and wiggled out of her arms until Sarah set her down.

"Dada?" she asked wobbling her way around the couch as if he was hiding there. "Dada".

"Right here, baby" Stefan zoomed in, swooping her into his arms, and making her giggle. "How are you this evening, young lady?" He asked making her giggle some more and it really was the cutest thing ever.

"Where are you guys going again?" Sarah asked taking in his jeans and t-shirt combo.

"She didn't say, but I'm sure it won't take long so I will be back in three hours".

"Mhm" she said and Stefan looked up at her while Emerson drank her milk happily in his arms.

"Okay, what's that sound?"

"Nothing, it's just that Elena might think that this evening is more than what it is".

"Elena knows we're just friends, that chapter has been closed for years now and I'm not looking to open it again" he said seriously and kissed his daughter's cheek. Bonnie had given him the greatest gift ever and she was all he needed to be happy.

"If you say so" Sarah said reaching for Emerson, who happily went into her arms. "You better get going then, Uncle Stefan"

"Are you sure this is okay?" He asked anxiously, he's never been away from Emerson this late and Sarah knew that. She didn't want him to worry because they'd be fine.

"Yeah, not to toot my own horn, but cuzzie and I are gonna have the best time without you".

"Thanks Sarah, we're really going to miss you when you leave for Europe" he said sincerely and she really didn't want to think about leaving them right now.

She was finally going to be living her dream of being a professional photographer to the stars and Stefan didn't want to hold her back so he encouraged her to go for it. To go live her dream, but she didnt want to think about it right now, not until she had to.

"Not for another six months, uncle Stefan so let's keep the sentiment to a minimum".

"Sorry" he said and touched his daughter's hair, getting her attention. "Daddy's gonna be back soon, okay?" He said and she nodded.

"Be good for your cousin, okay? Bye baby" he kissed her cheek again.

"Bye bye, dada".

* * *

"So what are you gonna do once Sarah leaves?" Elena asked taking a bite out of her expensive steak from the expensive restaurant she'd made a reservation for them and Stefan felt out of place because he was the only one wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

He'd suggested going to the grill, but Elena insisted on staying and said it would be fine. 

It didn't feel fine though because they were in a romantic themed restaurant and he kept thinking about what Sarah said before he left, about Elena expecting more from him than he was willing to give, or even able to give.

It's only been a year.

One day he was painting the nursey with his beautiful wife and the next he was raising his daughter without her.

It wasn't fair.

"I don't know" he responded eating his chicken because he really couldn't afford the steak and he had no business being there. "I'm probably gonna have to start her at daycare in the mornings and go get her in the afternoon. I'll have to get Bob to change my shift, but I'm sure it will be fine".

Yet another romantic song came on and Stefan stiffened awkwardly when Elena asked him to dance. "You know I don't dance, Elena" he said. What he really meant was he didn't dance with anyone but Bonnie because he'd gotten used to it and it was the only time it felt right.

"Okay" she said awkwardly, shifting in her chair before reaching for his hand and squeezing it. "Listen, Stefan, I know it's been a rough year and that now you have Em to think about. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'll always be here for you, Stefan, you and Emerson".

"Thanks, Lena".

She swallowed again and shifted some more "We've been through so much over the years, and Bonnie's death made me realise that life is too short" she said playing with his fingers. "And what we had, Stefan, I never should've let it go".

The silence that followed was deafening and the restaurant music seemed to fade away and all Stefan could think was that ten years have passed and yet nothing has changed for her.

"Please say something".

And yet a year has aged him far beyond the 172 years he's lived. "I'm in love with my wife, Elena" he said letting go of her hand. He had a one year old at home that needed a story and tucking in and it was time for him to go.

"Nothing is ever going to happen here".

* * *

 

She closed the door to her apartment and tossed her keys on the coffee table.

_"It was supposed to be my family"._

The thought consumed her all at once and she barely realised the damage she was doing to her apartment until it was done.

"Like I said before, you need me" a familiar voice said from behind her and she turned around, the anger still radiating from her body and she recognized the man from the first time he approached her a month ago, promising her a life Stefan basically told her she'd never have with him.

And maybe he was right, she couldn't get it alone.

"Okay, what do I have to do?"


	13. Talking Leads To Feelings

Stefan reluctantly detangled himself from the girl sleeping next to him. Something woke him up and now he was freaking out about getting his ass kicked when she wakes up and realises that they slept in the same bed.

In Stefan's defense, it was an accident.

Last night, he'd helped Bonnie to bed after she cried herself to sleep on the stairs and told Emerson he wanted to stay with her, just for a few minutes so that she wasn't alone, but the exhaustion must've caught up to him because he fell asleep next to her and now she might freak out over it.

His phone went off again and he remembered what had woken him up. "What is it, Damon?" He asked letting himself get distracted by the   
peaceful sleep she seemed to be in, before realising it probably wouldn't be good for her to wake up with him there so he quietly got off the bed and out the door.

"You will never believe who showed up at our doorstep this morning" Damon said from the other end of the line, looking at said person.

"Who is it?"

"I'm not telling you over the phone, Stefan" he said and Stefan rolled his eyes because of course he wasn't going to tell him. "Just round up the family and get your asses over here".

Stefan hung up the phone wondering how he was going to get Bonnie to go to the boarding house with basically no information at all.

"Stefan?"

He turned around to find her standing by the door of her bedroom rubbing her eyes and he remembered how early it was.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" He asked, he hadn't realised he was speaking loudly.

"No, I was already up" she lied, something that was becoming a regular occurrence when it came to him. The truth is she woke up because he took his warmth with him when he got out of bed, because it was Stefan and of course she knew he was there, but she wasn't about to tell him that.

He knew she was lying though because Bonnie wasn't a very good liar and he was trying to figure out why she was always lying to him while they stood there in an awkward silence at 04:30 in the morning.

"Who were you talking to?" She asked, breaking the silence because really she didn't want to think about why it didn't bother her that they shared the same bed.

"Oh, uh, Damon. Apparently someone showed up at the boarding house this morning" he said snapping out of his thoughts.

"Did he say who?"

"No, but he said we needed to get over there so I'm guessing it's important" he said nervously tapping his phone against his thigh, trying not to think about the awkwardness of this interaction because neither of them were speaking their minds, like how Stefan wanted to tell her that he wanted to sleep in the same bed with her again, but not a weird way, instead in a 'I sleep better when you're there' sort of way, but this was Bonnie and he couldn't tell her that so instead he said "We don't have to go, if-"

"No it's fine" she quickly cut him off because she wasn't sure she could stand the way he was looking at her right now. "I'll go get Emerson" she added before quickly brushing past him.

She blamed it on the talking they did the day before, on how they just became vulnerable with each other, because clearly talking led to feelings and she wasn't ready for feelings, especially not with him.

* * *

"Took you guys long enough, even barbie is already here" Damon said the moment they walked into the door, but they weren't focused on him right now, no they were focused on the hybrid sitting on the couch drinking a glass of bourbon like he owned the place.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Stefan growled about to attack Klaus, when Emerson grabbed his arm to stop him because she was starting to see it.

"He's here to help" she said and Klaus scoffed as he got up from the couch.

"Help is such a strong word, no I'm merely here because I want my hybrids, and I won't get them if this Marques is still roaming around trying to wipe you from existence".

"You found out what he wants, didn't you?" Bonnie asked as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that the man who tried to kill them only weeks ago was now standing in the Salvatore parlor, pouring himself another glass of bourbon like they were all old friends.

"That I did Miss Bennett and I even found out who he's working with".

"So are you gonna spit it out or do we have to wait for you to down the whole bottle of bourbon?" Caroline snapped out of nowhere and honestly it wasn't the fact that she'd snapped after being quiet this whole time that made Emerson laugh, nha that wasn't it. What made her laugh was the smirk he flashed her in response.

The look Stefan gave her shut her up quickly though because sometimes Stefan gave her reprimanding looks that were way too familiar, but the funniest thing was how different the past was from where she came from, especially relationships.

Exhibit A being her Aunt Caroline and Uncle Klaus.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, love" he said only infuriating her more before tapping out of the bourbon, "So I was in my house having a quiet night in with a good book because even us psychotic hybrids have to rest sometime, right?" He asked the room to which no one responded, but Caroline looked about ready to break his neck. She'd actually already killed him six different times in her head.

"So imagine my surprise when the dear sweet Elena walked through the door with our friend Aamon".

"What?!" Bonnie and Caroline yelled at the same time Damon called his bluff.

Stefan on the other hand was quiet, watching the surprise that was absent from Emerson's face.

"You knew" he said and they all looked at her. "I suspected" she corrected shaking her head. "And I hoped to be proven wrong".

"Why would she do this?" Stefan asked trying to make sense of the whole thing. Why would she want to kill someone Stefan loved, especially if she loved him like she claimed.

"Because she wants you back" Damon supplied, "In the future, I mean, and the only way to do that is if your love for Bonnie never existed in the first place".

Elena was just crazy enough to do it too, he'd seen a glimpse of it that day she was looking for Stefan and told him there was nothing Stefan wouldn't do for her as if erasing a whole person from existence was nothing. He didn't want to see it then because of who he was talking to, and he didn't want to believe that that was the kind of person he loved.

"Why did you come to us?" Bonnie asked, trying really hard to keep herself from going after Elena and ripping that bitch's hair out.

"I told you why".

"Oh please, Klaus, you're a powerful hybrid and your ego is just big enough for you to think you could take him on yourself" Bonnie spat, she was in no mood for Klaus' games, not if they were supposed to trust him. Stefan grabbed a hold of her arm when she looked about ready to turn her anger on the hybrid.

"Fine" he started, "It's because of you". He was pointing at Emerson as he continued, "He's afraid of you, both him and his master. He hides it well, but why else would he travel back in time just to make sure you are never born.

"My guess is, his master isn't as powerful as they'd like us to believe. Where ever his master is, he's trapped there, which is why they need Elena. So he can influence her".

"So what? It's not really Elena that wants Emerson dead?" Damon asked because the more words Klaus spoke, the further he lost him.

"Oh no it's Elena, but they are using her desire to be with Stefan as a doorway so to speak, for his master to come through and if they succeed, she will become their vessel and the world as we know it will pretty much crumble".

"And how do you know all this?" Stefan asked which just made the hybrid chuckle. "Because it's what I'd do if I were into that kind of thing".

"Wow, it really does take a psychopath to know one" Caroline said having an epiphany.

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment, love" he said and the wink he gave her made her cringe. "So I am willing to overlook the fact that you tried to kill me and lend a hand in stopping this demon. I get my hybrids and the world gets to see another day, everybody wins".

"We were never really gonna kill you, we were just trying to stop you from breaking the curse" Emerson said.

"Not from where I was standing, baby witch".

"You're being melodramatic, if I wanted you dead you would've been dead" she said rolling her eyes because as bad as Klaus was in this time period, he was family.

* * *

"How are we supposed to just go to school and act normal after what we found out?" Caroline whisper shouted as the four of them walked through the halls of Mystic Falls High, making their way to their first class of the day.

They decided to go to school and keep an eye on Elena while Damon and Alaric worked on finding out more about whoever or whatever Aamon's master was. And Klaus, he was going to play nice with a demon and hope he didn't get caught.

"Hey guys" Elena greeted from behind them with a bright smile plastered on her face. She might've joined the dark side, but Bonnie still knew her now ex-best friend and soon to be reason she'd be on trial for murder, and she wasn't fooling anyone with that smile.

Bonnie plastered her own well practiced smile she hoped was more convincing. "Hey Elena".

"Bonnie, can I talk to you in private for a minute?" She asked solemnly and Stefan watched her from beside Emerson. She was exactly the same, the same sincere Elena who felt too much, wearing her heart on her sleeve, but at the same time it wasn't her, not really because this was all an act. It was always just one big part she played and they were all extras in her show.

"If you want to say something to me Elena you can say it right here" Bonnie's voice snapped him out of his haze and from the look in her eyes you'd think everything was fine, but she was squeezing Caroline's hand too tightly and Stefan wondered if it was their way holding each other back from clawing Elena's eyes out.

He didn't realise he was shaking in anger himself until he felt Emerson's hand link with his, calming him down. Honestly, she seemed to be the only calm one amongst the four of them and he wondered how long she'd suspected Elena wanted to erase her from existence.

Did she know when she'd been declaring that she'd gladly die in order to see him happy? Did she know then?

"You're right" Elena said. "Yesterday Emerson came to see me and she made me see how wrong I was, actually" she stopped herself and started looking around at their fellow peers. "Excuse me, everyone?" She announced, getting everyone's attention.

"This past week I've been spreading nasty rumors about my best friend" she started, her audience captivated, this would be her showstopper. "My best friend who I've been through everything with, and I hurt her over a boy I've only known for two years. I hurt my best friend-" her voice caught in her throat, the tears forming in her eyes. "And that was never my intention" she grabbed Bonnie's hand then, placing it again her chest.

"There is nothing I've ever wanted more than for you to be happy, Bonnie Bennett. You've made so many sacrifices for me and I want to do the same for you". The first tear fell and Emerson noticed some of the other girls crying as well.

"I love you, Bonnie Bennett, and if Stefan makes you happy, I want you to be together" she said, finally ending her speech and Bonnie was crying too.

"I love you too, Lena" she whispered before Elena pulled her into a warm hug.

What Elena didn't realise during her final act, was that as good a actress as she was, her understudy could act too.

* * *

Stefan and Emerson ended up driving home together because Elena insisted on having a girls' night with her two best friends, just like old times and old times didn't include Emerson. Bonnie insisted on bringing her with, but Emerson was fine with not going so she'd spend the night with Stefan.

"So, what do you want to do?" Stefan asked as they walked through the front door trying to ignore the fact that this was their first time alone.

"Can we watch a movie? I feel like I haven't done anything normal since I got here".

"Sure, I'll make us some popcorn while you pick a movie" he said heading to the kitchen while she looked through Bonnie's collection. He stood at the doorway watching her for a moment before he decided it was getting creepy and left to go make the popcorn.

"Watch is this movie called again?"

They were an hour into the movie going through their second batch of popcorn when he decided to voice his concerns.

"Twilight".

"Uh huh" he said, "and you like this movie, why?"

"Because it's tradition" she shrugged, grabbing another handful of popcorn. "You introduced me to the franchise when I was twelve years old for 'educational purposes' because of how badly they potray vampires".

"Like the whole sparkling in the sunlight thing" he said and she chuckled because she's heard him go on an entire rant about that point alone. She remembered him telling her that if he tried that crap without his daylight ring he wouldn't live to tell the tale.

"Mom made you watch the whole franchise".

"She'd probably be able to make me do that, wouldn't she?" He mused and Emerson knew he wasn't talking to her anymore, he had that look in his eyes which she knew meant he was thinking about Bonnie and he didn't even know it yet.

But she nodded away. "Yeah, she would".

They were silent again until Stefan summoned up enough courage to ask her what he's been wanting to all day.

"How long have you suspected her?" He asked turning to her, but she kept her eyes on the movie. She knew what he was asking, he wanted her to explain what she meant that morning but she didn't know where to start.

"Were you really gonna let me be with her knowing she was the reason you were never born?"

The hurt in his voice sounded so much like her dad that she couldn't tell the difference anymore. "I wasn't supposed to change anything".

"How long have you known?"

"When I was one year old I accidently slipped into her mind" she started, making herself look at him as she told him. "She came to our house to visit like she usually did, like she'd been doing for a year after my mom died and she touched my hair.

I didn't even know what I was doing at the time. All I remember is seeing you guys together in her head, but I wasn't there because I was never a part of her plan, instead I saw a baby that looked like you, and that looked like her" she said, a stray tear rolling down her face and she quickly wiped it away. "It happened so quickly and took a lot out of me that you put me to sleep right after. I think that was the first warning my mind ever gave me".


	14. What Do You See In Me?

_I always thought I'd know what it feels like when it happened again, but I didn't and now I don't know what to do with myself._

_I know what I want to do, what I've been wanting to do for months now. But this is Bonnie and she'd kick my ass if I tried the aggressive approach._

_I'm starting to wonder what the alternative is, because now she is dating some guy named Caleb. Caleb who's human, comes from a good family and is an overall good guy._

_I hate his guts._

_I hate that he reminds me that Bonnie's too good for me and he's the exact kind of guy she could marry and have children with because that's what Bonnie deserves._

_And I always have to consciously remind myself that my feelings don't matter because I've ruined her enough and she deserves a guy like Caleb, so I'm reminding myself again._

Emerson's phone went off again in the other room, but she still didn't pick up. For a hybrid the girl could sleep through anything, while Stefan couldn't sleep a wink, which is why he was reading one of his future entries from Emerson's diary.

It was getting harder for him to live in this time knowing what he had in the future, what he had with Bonnie.

He closed the journal and got out of bed when Emerson's phone went off again and he made his way to her room to answer it.

"Are you okay?" He asked answering the phone when he saw it was Bonnie. She'd called five times and he was already getting anxious.

She didn't respond, but he could hear the sound of her heart pounding against her chest so he asked "Bonnie?"

"Uhm, where's Emerson?" She asked nervously picking at the cotton of her jersey. She was in the Gilbert kitchen feeling like she was losing her mind because she didn't know how to keep herself from setting Elena on fire where she stood so she needed a way to calm herself down and Emerson was the best option.

"She's asleep" he said and Bonnie face palmed herself, of course she was asleep, it was late and they had school tomorrow and now that she thought about it that was a dumb question.

"Oh" is what came out of her mouth before she decided she should probably say more than that. "Yeah of course, I'll see you guys in the morning then, good-"

"Wait, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just uh, I just needed someone to talk to I guess" she said quietly and Stefan tried not to let it sting that she didn't think to call him. "But it's fine".

"I'm awake" he said vocalizing the first thing that popped in his head in his desperate attempt to keep her on the line, he didn't want to say goodnight yet. "I mean, you could talk to me if you want".

"Uhm" she said thoughtfully. She had two options, she could try to go back to sleep in the same bed as Elena or she could try and carry an awkward conversation with Stefan, who's been making her feel things lately with his warmth and sincerity.

"I don't bite, Bonnie" he said when she took too long.

"You're a vampire, the very definition of who you are is based off you biting people" she shot back, making him smile because he could hear the laughter in her voice as she said that.

"Made you laugh, didn't it?"

She'd give him that one so she made her way to the couch in the living room and he went back to his room, not wanting to wake Em up.

"It's Elena, isn't it?" He asked and she nodded even though he couldn't see it.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up".

"You don't have to pretend if you don't want to".

"I don't want to give us away before we know more about what Aamon is up to" she sighed and spotted a picture of her, Caroline and Elena at a 20s dance two years ago and she wondered what happened to them. Those girls didn't get caught up in messes like this.

She could easily blame the Salvatores for their complicated lives, but the truth is Bonnie would still been a witch whether they came to town or not and Elena has always been entitled, it's just no one has ever questioned it before.

"I promise you I'll do everything in my power to keep you two safe"

"I know you will" she said seriously and without hesitation, surprising the both of them because she found that she really believed it.

"You do?"

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but the sincerity in her voice caught him off guard, but then again that was Bonnie.

"Yeah, I do. Believe it or not, I can see why I'd choose you. I've always seen it" she said not sure why she was telling him all this, but it probably needed to be said.

"What do you see?" He asked curiously. His phantom heartbeat pounding against his chest because between finding out they had a daughter and staying together he's started to feel something for her he couldn't explain or make sense of, something beyond the admiration that was always there, something he couldn't remember ever feeling before.

"I'm not gonna give away the ending" she was saying with a laugh, drawing him out of his musings. "But before you got caught between Elena's panties, you were Stefan and I saw it then".

Stefan sat there in a daze unable to respond because she had a way of making him feel like he could be better than he was. It's why it always hit him hard when he messed up and she somehow always got hurt.

"What if I can't be better?"

She shook her head again, already feeling cosy and sleepy "Emerson is proof that you can be, and we need to get her back home to you".

He could hear her voice getting heavier with sleep, but didn't want to hang up yet so he listened to her fall asleep on the other end of the line before quietly letting her know how good she was, despite the hand she's been dealt.

* * *

They were at the grill where a live band was playing because apparently despite recent revelations, neither of them could say no to Elena when she really wanted something.

It was a way to draw in more customers to the grill and judging by the large crowd they found as they walked through the door, it worked.

"Bonnie" a voice said from behind her, it was Jeremy. Last night was the first time she'd seen him since they broke up two months ago and they talked, as awkward as it was and she ended up promising him a talk because he deserved that much after she just dumped him.

"Hey Jeremy" she said turning to face him and gave him a warm smile he didn't return, instead he looked at her with the same sad eyes as last night and fiddled with his hands as if he was keeping himself from reaching out and touching her.

"I was wondering if we could do it now" he  asked and she nodded.

"I'll be right back, girls" she told Elena and Caroline before leading Jeremy to the only free table in the back to get them some privacy.

"How are you?" Jeremy asked as they sat down and she shrugged. "I'm fine, all things considered".

The awkward silence that followed was uncomfortable as they just sat there with nothing to say and Bonnie took the time to watch the band set up their equipment for the show. Caroline had told her their name, but for the life of her she couldn't remember what it was or what they were famous for.

"So, you and Stefan, huh?" Jeremy broke the silence again and pulled her from her thoughts.

"Apparently".

"Wha-" he started only to cut himself off and try again. "What do you think happens in the future that's so bad that we can't stay together?" He asked. He's been asking himself that question since Emerson came into their lives and Bonnie told him they couldn't be together anymore.

He felt like the rug had been swept from under him since he was pretty sure he was in love with her now. He had a whole plan of how he'd tell her too, they'd be having a picnic at the falls watching the stars and he'd do it, he'd tell her he loved her and they'd be happy, but that was moot now.

"I don't know, Jer" she responded softly and she really didn't want to know more than she already did about the future since she wasn't a part of much of it. She doesn't get to raise her daughter, she doesn't get to plait her hair or tell her a bedtime story or teach her how to use her magic, or any of the things Abby should've done with her so she didn't want to think about the future she wasn't a part of. She just wanted to get her daughter home.

"I would've protected you, you know" he said, suddenly having too much to say. "If we were together, you wouldn't have to die".

"I die giving birth, Jeremy, there's nothing anyone could've done to change that" she said short of snapping at him because if they were together then there wouldn't be Emerson and Bonnie couldn't see a future without Emerson in it.

"To Stefan's baby". The acid was clear in his voice. Whichever way he tried to live he always lost the girl and he really thought he would get to keep her this time.

Bonnie nodded in agreement, because he was right, it was Stefan's baby and there was no use denying it.

"Yes, to Stefan's baby" she started before taking his hand "Look Jeremy, you're a great guy and I'm sorry I hurt you, I really am".

"I just wish things were different" he said quietly, squeezing her hand as the tears fell from his eyes. It wasn't fair that their relationship ended before it even got a chance to be something special. "It's not fair".

"I know it's not" she said the tears stinging her eyes as well because Jeremy deserved to be happy with someone special, but that someone wasn't her.

She dragged her chair closer to his and pulled him into her arms while he repeatedly kissed her hand. She didn't mind that his tears were staining her shirt, she'd sit there with him for as long as he needed.

"What's going on?" Stefan asked as he came to stand next to Caroline by the bar while she watched the band set up, his eyes were fixed on Jeremy and Bonnie in the corner. He hadn't realised he was seeking her out until he saw her hugging Jeremy, with his head buried in her neck.

Him and Emerson were preparing dinner when Caroline texted them to come to the grill because Elena had insisted that they had to go listen to live music.

"I know you're old, but I'd think it was self-explanatory, Stefan. It's a band called 'The Vamps', ironic right?"

"Uhm, Caroline" Emerson interjected, getting her attention and the blonde vampire finally looked at them before following where Stefan was staring. Oh.

"I thought they broke up". He shifted in place, the intimacy between them making him angry as he saw Jeremy squeeze Bonnie's waist tighter while burying his head further into her neck while she whispered it would be okay in his ear.

"They did" Caroline said slowly as she turned back to look at him because no one could miss the edge in his voice when he spoke. His clenched fists also gave him away, "But last night they got to talking".

"Last night?"

"Yeah, remember we slept over at Elena's house? Anyway they ran into each other and started talking about their relationship, you know, loose ends and all that" Caroline continued and Emerson tried to keep herself from laughing at how worked up Stefan was getting, which was for nothing.

Jeremy Gilbert was not a threat, he was not a part of their future and her dad told her that Bonnie only ever dated him because that's what everyone expected. He's the guy all of them felt she was good enough for.

And that was hard for her to admit because she eventually did fall for him, and then he hurt her.

"Anyway, she promised to talk to him today and here they are" Caroline kept at it, waving her arms enthusiastically at the couple in front of them.

"And how long have they been talking?" Emerson asked, joining the conversation.

"Forty-five minutes" Caroline answered nonchalantly and Emerson could tell the exact moment she saw Stefan's jaw tick.

"Doesn't look like talking to me" he snapped at them.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" Emerson asked lifting her hands defensively.

"Is there a problem with Bonnie talking to Jeremy, Stefan?" Caroline asked with her brows raised.

She suspected that the two of them were starting to feel something more than friendship. Bonnie never could hide her feelings from her and Caroline's seen that sparkle in her eyes before. She saw it when Stefan first came into town and Bonnie saw the new guy, before Elena got her claws into him and Bonnie forced herself to shut off her feelings, she's seen it all and now it was back with a vengeance.

Stefan, on the other hand, she hadn't been sure about. Other than that time he almost ripped those idiots heads off for calling Bonnie a piece of chocolate, he hasn't treated her like Elena at all and she was starting to think that Bonnie's feelings might be unrequited, she was glad that she was way off.

"I need some air" is all he said taking one last look at Bonnie and Jeremy before heading out the door.

"I'll go check on him" Emerson said, but Caroline grabbed her arm.

"No, let me" Caroline insisted before heading out the door after him.

"Hey, was that Stefan?" Emerson turned around again at the sound of Bonnie's voice. She was walking towards her with a sad and confused look in her eyes while Jeremy was nowhere to be found.

"Ahhhh, yeah".

"Well, what's wrong with him? He looked upset".

"Not any one thing" Emerson said her voice an octave higher than it should and Bonnie raised a skeptical eyebrow. "But I do think you guys need to talk and I mean really talk, not that awkward thing you guys do".

"I don't know what you're talking about, there's no awkward thing between me and Stefan".

"You forget I'm from the future and I know how the story plays out for you two so the denial thing isn't a good look" Emerson called her out on her lie, plus she lived with them so she didn't have to be from the future to see that there was clearly something there. "Just go talk to him, Bonnie".

"Fine" she mumbled heading the same direction Caroline and Stefan did a few minutes ago.

* * *

 

"What do you want, Caroline?" Stefan asked once she caught up to him by the parking lot.

"I want you to admit it" she said casually, shrugging her shoulders.

"Admit what?"

"That you got jealous of the moment between Bonnie and Jeremy".

"I wasn't je-"

"Oh please, Stefan, cut the crap. You were jealous because you don't want Bonnie sharing an intimate moment with her ex-boyfriend because a part of you already sees her as yours" Caroline said poking at his chest for emphasis.

"No, I was just upset because she went off on me for promising Elena to change the future for her and then she goes and does this".

"What do you think was happening in there? Stefan they were just getting some closure, their break up was just as sudden as yours and Elena's was and do you really believe that Bonnie would risk that little girl's life by getting back together with Jeremy?"

"No" he relented, letting himself calm down. "I don't".

"So you were being irrational" Caroline said with a smirk.

"I'm wasn't being irrational, Caroline, I was just-"

"Jealous, the word you're looking for is jealous". The smirk turned to a full blown smile then because even as he tried to hide his feelings, he couldn't.

"Jealous of what?"

They both turned around at the sound of Bonnie's voice and Caroline cringed before giving him an apologetic look when she saw him glaring at her, and how on earth did they not hear her anyway?

"And that is my cue to leave, good chat Stefan" she said and quickly flashed back to the grill before either of them could stop her.

"Damn it, Caroline" he hissed through gritted teeth and fully turned to take in the confused look in Bonnie's eyes.

"What was she talking about, Stefan? What are you jealous of?" Bonnie asked taking a small step forward. When she walked out the grill she saw them arguing but couldn't make out what they were saying until she got closer and heard Caroline call him irrational.

"Um, nothing it's not important. What are you doing out here?" He asked deflecting and Bonnie seemed taken aback by his avoidance of the topic, but let it go anyway.

"Um, you looked upset before" she said pointing her thumb in the general direction of the grill "And Emerson said we needed to talk about this awkward thing between us".

"There's no awkward thing between us" he said awkwardly, running his hand through his hero hair and Bonnie's noticed that gesture before. It was when she'd found him talking to Damon in the hallway before he offered her an out from having to go to the boarding house. She hadn't thought much of it then but now it was becoming a trend.

"Why do you do that?" She asked pointing at where his hand was still in his hair and he looked at it, wondering what she was talking about.

"What?"

"That thing with your hand, I've never seen you do that before until you came to live with us".

"Maybe I've always done it, but you've just never noticed until you started seeing me 24/7".

She wasn't buying it.

"Well have you?" She asked crossing her arms across her chest, daring him to lie to her.

Living with her, he's noticed things too, like what she was doing now. Her defensive pose.

"No".

She dropped her arms then and looked confused again. "Then why do you do it?"

"Does it have something to do with what Caroline said?" She pushed when he wouldn't answer her because she was really getting frustrated with his mood. "Stefan, what were you jealous of? Just tell me!"

"I was jealous of seeing you with Jeremy, okay?!" He snapped, getting just as frustrated and that caught her off-guard. She wasn't sure what she expected him to say, but it wasn't that.

"I didn't expect to come here and see uou holding him like you were, and I didn't like it" he said his hand getting caught in his hair again as he gruffed in frustration because he didn't think he'd be that honest with her.

"Why would you be jealous of that? It had nothing to do with you" she finally responded after a pregnant pause and he looked at her incredulously, the anger clear in his eyes.

"Of course it had something to do with me, Bonnie! We're supposed to be in this together and you cosying up to your ex-boyfriend is-"

"Cosying up?! Are you serious?! He was upset and I was comforting him" she yelled just as pissed off.

"You really think that's how he took it?"

"It doesn't matter how he took it, I told him how it was. And why does that bother you so much anyway?!"

She jumped when he flashed to her, but stood her ground because she refused to be intimidated by Stefan Salvatore. "You want me to spell it out for you?" He hissed in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and she was suddenly aware of him, and how close he was.

"You've had your head shoved so far up Elena's ass for the past two years" she tried to sound confident, but she was sure he could hear the pounding of her heart as it tried break free from her chest. "You might just have to".

He slowly brushed his hand across her cheek, testing the waters and when she didn't give him an aneurysm he pushed further and placed his forehead against hers, breathing in the scent of lavender and honey. Bonnie always smelled of lavender and honey and he found that he really liked her scent. It somehow kept the ripper at bay.

"What do you see in me, because I'm pretty sure I don't deserve anyone like you" He whispered against her cheek, making her shiver. This was such a bad idea, she did not do this. She did not act on her impulses or let herself feel more than she should and now she was doing exactly those things, and it was such a bad idea.

"If we always got what we deserved we wouldn't be who we are today" she responded and the smile on his face was blinding as he leaned in and captured her lips between his.

The kiss was slow and sweet despite everything else about him being hard and she just wanted to get closer to him so she pushed herself up on her tiptoes, holding on tightly to his sides and he wrapped one arm around her waist, deepening the kiss.

The sound of Caroline's scream was like cold water poured on their moment and they abruptly pulled away from each other.

"Bonnie!"

"Caroline, what is it?" She asked when the blonde vampire reached them, and Bonnie got scared when she saw the terrified look on her face.

"It's Aamon, he took Emerson".


	15. The Consequences Of Acting On Your Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Scooby gang gets a special guest after losing one of their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I've had some serious writer's block when it came to this story, but hopefully now I can get it moving again.
> 
> I appreciate you guys sticking around.

_2034 A month after Emerson left_

"Are you sure about this?" She asked him for the fifth time since she's started preparing the spell and just like the other four times he nodded again.

"If you're right, then I don't really have a choice now do I?"

"I guess not, but Stefan you have to remember that once you leave I can't bring you back and if Emerson doesn't make it then you'll be stuck, which will cause a paradox that will end up killing you anyway".

"I don't care Lucy, I promised my wife that I would protect our daughter, okay? And that's exactly what I plan to do" he said and turned her around to face him. "Listen, I know you're worried and so am I, but we're coming back, okay?"

"Okay fine, she's in 2010. Now it took me a while to find her, but Emerson is a powerful witch so you should be able to pick up on her magic pretty easily and get there safely. It also helps that you have a strong connection to her" Lucy said putting her faith in him, this wouldn't work if she didn't trust him.

"How are your memories?"

"Still in tact, though now I have to think for a minute to remember who she is" he said. He doesn't tell her about the journal he's been keeping on his nightstand with a post it note written 'read me' in his handwriting on its cover because he couldn't remember her without reading it first or about how he's going after her because he's terrified that this might be the last time he's ever gonna see her again. Instead he lied to her because he needed to buy some time and Lucy wouldn't let him go if she knew the truth.

"You don't have much time then, Stefan".

"I know, but I'll bring her back. I promise you". She nodded her response and recited the spell, getting a sense of deja vu as she watched him disappear before her eyes like Emerson did.

* * *

A moment of selfishness.

That's all Aamon needed in order to take her daughter and Bonnie hated herself for letting him get it. Plus, with Elena there she knew he'd probably make an   
appearance, she knew that and she still went after Stefan. She still left her in there without any back-up.

_Crap! What was she thinking?!_

"Bonnie, you need to calm down" Stefan said grabbing onto her shoulders to get get her attention and he could feel the magic radiating off of her. She finally noticed him standing there in front of her with worry in his eyes, she also noticed the broken pieces of glass on the floor from Damon's smashed bottle of bourbon.

"Thanks Bonbon" he mumbled sarcastically before downing what was left in the glass in his hand after Bonnie's wave of magical fury broke his last bottle.

After Caroline told them what happened they went back to the Boarding house to regroup after searching The Grill only to come up empty.

How could someone disappear without a trance like that?

The not knowing was giving Bonnie disturbing flashbacks to when Emerson disappeared in front them and she was starting to freak out a little bit.

"We need to find her, Stefan" she whispered, her voice shaking and she hadn't even realised she was crying until he wiped the tears away from her cheek with his thumb.

"We will, okay? We will".

He rested his hand there and looked at her with such intensity in his eyes that she almost wanted to believe him and trust what he said, but she couldn't bring herself to. So instead of letting him comfort her, she stepped away from him and avoided his touch all together.

It didn't feel right being comforted by him, not when she was with him when their daughter disappeared because they were selfish. It didn't feel right so she kept her distance and turned away from the hurt she saw in his eyes when his arms dropped limply at his sides.

"I need a map" she muttered. It took Caroline a split second to come back carrying it and she spread it out onto the coffee table while Bonnie knelt down in front of it. She couldn't deal with what she was feeling for Stefan right now, but this, focusing her energy on finding her daughter? This she could do so she cut her palm with the knife Caroline offered her and closed her eyes to focus on finding Em.

" _Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem_ " the locator spell easily flowed from her lips. She repeated the incantation over and over again, but there was something very wrong.

Something blocking her. It was like hitting a brick wall that was blocking her from finding Emerson. A brick wall she couldn't break through.

"I can't reach her" she finally confessed and opened her eyes. If she had any chance of finding Emerson then she needed a stronger connection to her. A stronger one than the one she had, which meant she needed Stefan.

"I need some of your blood" she said without looking at him. Her eyes were glued on the map in front of her, but she could feel his gaze on her from the opposite side of the coffee table. He knelt down too with his eyes still locked on her as he bit into his hand without question.

He learned to trust Bonnie a long time ago and didn't need to know what her plan was for him to want to help her so he put his faith in her. He watched her silently place her blood stained hand in his own, interlocking their fingers so their blood could mix, and started reciting the spell again.

He didn't think anything was wrong as he watched her repeat the incantation. But that was before he saw blood dripping from her nose and he could feel her getting weaker the more she pushed herself. "Bonnie" he said, trying to get her attention, but she only got louder and pushed herself even more.

She was almost through and just needed more time.

"Bonnie you need to stop". He shook her shoulder with his free hand to try and break her concentration because if she didn't stop she'd kill herself, which was exactly what Aamon was counting on, for them to do the job for him.

Bonnie wasn't listening though and she pulled her shoulder out from under his grip. She could do this, Emerson depended on her and she wasn't going to let her down twice.

Her concentration broke though the moment she felt herself being yanked from the coffee table and lost her connection.

"What the hell, Stefan?!" She yelled in his face the moment her back hit the far wall by the parlor entrance and she looked up at him with pissed off fiery eyes he knew all too well. He didn't say anything though, which pissed her off even more because she demanded an explanation damn it!

"It wasn't me" he finally said. Only, his lips weren't moving and his voice sounded much further away, which was odd considering he was right in her face so she finally looked over his shoulder at each of her friends and saw them looking just as confused as she felt, until her eyes locked with Stefan.

Wait...

Her eyes widened in shock when she looked at him again, the one in front of her that is and her anger melted away. The look in his eyes was disarming as he openly stared at her for a moment before breaking into a charming smile that would've made her knees give out from under her if he didn't still have her pinned against the wall, but her breath caught in her chest anyway when he finally spoke.

"Hey baby".

He still couldn't get over how beautiful she was. Logically, he knew that he would see her in this time, but he didn't think he'd get here and find her trying to kill herself. He should've known better considering her track record in the past.

But it gets better in the future even though, above all else, Bonnie Bennett will always be a martyr.

For the longest time they just stood there in deafening silence again with Bonnie still pinned against the wall while Future Stefan just looked at her and she remembered what Emerson told her that time at her house, he loved her.

Apparently it didn't matter what time period he was in because it was hard to miss the love she saw in his eyes. Her Stefan was starting to look at her like that, but it wasn't the same. And by "her Stefan" she meant the Stefan of her time, and didn't mean that he belonged to her or anything because that would be ridiculous. Stefan wasn't hers to take possession of.

She couldn't keep her heart from hoping though that maybe one day he would look at her the same way this Stefan was, with love that made her want to fall into his arms and never let go. It was a clingy thought and she hated when her heart felt things against her will. It was annoying so to distract herself she asked the first thing that came to mind, "How did you get here?"

"Lucy. She performed the spell to get me here" he spoke softly as if he was scared that if he spoke any louder then she'd disappear or it would turn out that none of this was real.

Honestly it took a lot of restrain on his part not to eliminate what little space they had between them and kiss her passionately like he wanted to, mostly because he didn't want to overwhelm her since he was deep up Elena's ass in 2010.

But then again he realised he probably wasn't doing a very good job of hiding his feelings anyway when he felt her shiver in his arms after he spoke.

"Lucy?" She whispered in shock and tried to gain a semblance of composure when she felt his breath against her cheek. She was happy for the distraction though that kept her from focusing on their close proximity.

She's only ever met her cousin once, which sucked because having family around made her feel connected to someone she could trust, but she was grateful at the same time because this meant Emerson atleast had her aunt in her life in the future.

"Yeah, we don't have much time left, baby".

The term of endearment was making her feel all sorts of things, but mostly made her throat go dry with the way he said it so effortlessly, because he's always said it like that. Just not to her, well not this version of her anyway, but that was a whole other can of worms she refused to open right now.

"We know". The voice that spoke up behind them actually made her jump and Future Stefan finally let go which she was really grateful for because it meant she could finally think straight without his eyes on her and with a little bit more space between them so she could breathe. She looked behind them and noticed Stefan looking at them with his arms folded over his chest and an unreadable expression on his face.

This was completely new territory for her and she didn't know how she was supposed to act now, but looking at her Stefan and seeing the hurt hidden beneath all the emotions he was trying so hard to hide just made her feel guilty which was weird because they were the same person and she had no reason to feel guilty, and he had no reason to be looking at her like that.

Anyway for the next half an hour they listened to Future Stefan explain some of what he knew about Aamon and what Lucy told him to a point where Bonnie wanted to flip the whole world upside down looking for her daughter, but Damon of all people had to be the rational one.

"We can't just go there guns blazing. We need to come up with a plan".

"Do you have a plan, Damon?!" She sounded almost hysterical just then and Caroline wrapped an arm around her shoulder to calm her down a bit.

"We'll come up with one" Stefan said and his future counterpart nodded in agreement, "Nothing is going to happened to Em, but you can't help her if you're exhausted".

"He's right, so as much as you don't want to you need to get some rest. Come on I'll take you to my room so you can get some sleep" Future Stefan said, already reaching for her, but Stefan wasn't about to let that happened.

"No. Technically it's my room so I'll do it" he countered and Caroline gave them both an annoyed look because, really? There were seriously more important things to be worried about than which version of Stefan could put Bonnie to bed and when she turned to look at her best friend she could tell she didn't appreciate it very much either.

"Caroline will take me" she spat in anger barely keeping herself from giving both of them an aneurysm. She turned around then and left them all standing there before Caroline followed her. She couldn't believe them and refused to be in the same room as either of them until they both decided to grow up.

It wasn't until Bonnie was in Stefan's room alone that she laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about Em. Her daughter trusted her to protect her and she let her down.

She's spent so much of her life protecting Elena and giving so much of herself to making sure that **she** lived in every way possible, but she couldn't do the same for Emerson.

She wasn't there when she needed her most.

* * *

_Bonnie watched in agony as her daughter struggled against the chains holding her down and every bone in her body was screaming at her to help, to do something instead of just stand there and watch. But she couldn't._

_This was Emerson's fight. It was her fight before she was even born._

_Sheila explained it to her after she learned she was pregnant. She said In the original timeline, Bonnie was alive and happy, but there was no Emerson._

_"When Elena created Aamon in the future she sold her soul and became a servant of the underworld. She allowed herself to be a vessel for Lucifer to use to get to our world so he could rule us and lead us into darkness._

_To her, none of it mattered though as long as she had Stefan, and the only way to do that was by making sure our line was destroyed"._

_"But if she could use Aamon to change the timeline then why not make sure she ended up with Stefan?" Bonnie had asked_

_"There's no timeline where you and Stefan don't end up together, Child. That little girl has fiddled with it so much to change that, but nothing ever does" Sheila said and Bonnie pointed out that something did change though. There was Emerson now._

_Emerson was the witches' doing._

_They realised something._

_As much as Elena tried to change the timeline, Stefan and Bonnie's love was always the only constant so they used their magic to manifest that love into a physical being. A crossbreed that could exist as two things at once and finally put an end to Aamon's reign of tyranny so they could finally live without constantly looking over their shoulder._

_"She's the key to ending all of this and she doesn't even know it" Sheila said as she came to stand next to her granddaughter and they both watched Emerson struggle. Bonnie turned to look at her grandmother and considered her for a moment before speaking her mind._

_"How can you be so calm about all this? If she's the key then why won't you let me help her?"_

_This wasn't the first time Bonnie asked though so she already knew what Sheila would say. She had to help herself. She had to stop living with the constant fear of disappearing at any moment and realise that she would always exist, because her love for Stefan would always exist too._

_So she knew what Grams was going to say even though she wouldn't look at her as she said it._

_"No one's gonna save her, but herself"._


	16. This Life Without You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emerson sees her parents' lives without her. 
> 
> And yes...Enzo cameos in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'm thinking since you guys have stuck so long with this story and we're almost towards the end, I wanna hear how you guys think this should end. 
> 
> What do you wanna see happened? Let me know in the comment section and we'll see if I can make it happen for you!

"How are you not absolutely terrified right now?"

They were sitting side by side, leaning against the concrete wall. She was still in chains and could feel the damp floor beneath her while Bonnie sat there with her.

Consciously, Emerson knew that she wasn't real. She was just a figment of her imagination created due to the lonliness. She remembered this conversation though, they had it once, late at night in her pseudo room that day she disappeared in front of Bonnie and Stefan.

Bonnie wouldn't let her be alone that night so they stayed up and talked. Somehow the conversation took a turn to the topic of her current dilemma, just like it did now. Only this time it wasn't Bonnie she was talking to, just her subconscious that resembled her mother.

Em smiled.

Just like she did then, with the faintest of tears stinging her eyes and then turned her head to look at her mother. "Because I get to experience both sides of it. The good and the bad.

The bad thing about disappearing is that once I'm gone no one will remember I was even here, but the good thing is that I got to meet you. I never thought I would ever get to know you" she said. The tears were flowing freely now, from both of their eyes, and that night she'd reached over to Bonnie and dried her tears with the palm of her hands.

She couldn't do that now so she just looked at her until she spoke again.

"Grams once told me that the thing about family is that even when they're not there, they're there..." she stopped and Emerson noticed her expression change, like she was in pain all of a sudden. "She said we were an embodiment of the people we loved, and that as long as we lived, they lived with us. I didn't understand it before, but I think I- I get it now...you've always known me because you- you carry me with you e-every...day".

The first drop of blood came from her nose and it was enough to completely scare Emerson.

"Bonnie?!" She panicked and twisted her body so she could touch her when she started coughing up more blood.

Then all at once there was blood everywhere and Bonnie had an open wound in her chest.

She let out a blood curtling cry and struggled to break free from her chains as Bonnie bled out in front of her. There was nothing she could do, but watch. She couldn't even feel her as she tried to shake her awake with the leg that barely reached her arm, because she wasn't real.

Her mom was lying on her back in front of her, her eyes open and staring at nothing, but Emerson knew she couldn't be real.

She wasn't real.

"I think I enjoyed that the most when I killed her. The fact that after it all there was nothing left of the woman she used to be".

She tore her tear stained eyes away from Bonnie's lifeless body and looked up to see him standing right in front of her. The way he towered over her made him look twice as big as she remembered. He wanted to make her feel inferior, and it was working.

She'd been listening to the band waiting for Caroline to come back from the bathroom when he took her. She doesn't even remember what happened other than just standing there in the crowd one minute and then waking up in this cell she was in right now the next.

She watched her mother's body disappear in front of her and there was suddenly nothing between them. She wiped her tears on the sleeve of the sweater she was wearing and looked up again.

Aamon took a step closer and the only reason he was still standing was because he blocked her magic just like he did that first time they met. She could feel it on the surface, but she couldn't access it so she looked at him defiantly and he could clearly see the hatred in her eyes as she asked, "Why did you bring me here?"

"I wanted to show you something" he responded in a conversational tone and her chains disappeared the very next second. He offered her his hand which she reluctantly took it and got on her feet. She stumbled a bit, but he kept her steady, and even this close she still couldn't see his face under the cloak he was wearing.

She pulled herself from his grip and waited for him to get this over with, but he just looked at her.

"What?!" She snapped impatiently, but instead of responding to her outburst he just reached for her hand again and everything went black.

* * *

Emerson watched the couple snuggled on the couch from the fireplace where she stood in front of them. It was her mom, with her short hair just like in the pictures she's seen around their house. She looked so happy, giggling at something the man whispered in her ear. A man that wasn't her father, and she watched them kiss without a care in the world.

"This is the thing about time travel: The different outcomes that came with it" Aamon said standing beside her. She hadn't noticed him until just then and she wondered whether they really were in an alternate timeline or was he just torturing her again?

"They can't see us, by the way" he said. Cloaking spell...she figured.

She turned her head to see him watching the laughing couple. She's never heard her mom laugh, not even Bonnie laughed, not like this and she wanted to cry so badly because she was laughing now, and really hard too, and it was because of a man she didn't even know.

"That is Enzo St. John. She doesn't meet him for another few years" Aamon started  and she turned her head to look closely at the man in question. "In our timeline nothing happens between them because Bonnie is with Stefan, but here. Here she chooses him instead".

"I love you, you crazy witch" Enzo said and Emerson noticed her mom shiver as tears stung her eyes and she nodded. "I believe you" she whispered. Her voice was shakey and she kissed him again.

She knew that whether this was real or not, it still hurt...a lot. But how could it hurt so much when this was what she wanted, for her mom to be alive and happy.

It wasn't supposed to hurt...

"Why did you bring me here?" Emerson whispered and hated her voice for trembling while her tears fell without permission.

She turned away from them, unable to look at them anymore.

"So you could see for yourself".

"See what?"

"Their lives without you in it...without any of this mess. You blame yourself for your mother's death, but you don't have to...not  if you let me change the outcome" he said and finally turned to look at her. He grabbed ahold of her shoulder and she closed her eyes before they disappeared again.

"Are you okay, love?" Enzo whispered in her ear when she turned her head to look at the fireplace and she shook her head.

She felt something. She didn't know what it was, but for the briefest moment she felt whole. Like something she didn't even know was missing was suddenly there and now it was gone again.

"It's the strangest thing" she said and looked at him again. "I thought I felt something".

"What?" He asked a little concerned and she placed a hand on his cheek to ease his worry. She gave him a soft smile when he leaned into her touch.

"It felt like family. Is that crazy?" She asked. He shook his head no and pulled her against his chest so she could rest her head there.

"It isn't crazy".

* * *

"Stefan...don't you dare" Elena said warningly with her arms stretched out in front of her.

They were out in the yard of the Salvatore boarding house and Emerson could see them in the driveway washing their cars out in the hot sun. It was a good way to cool off she supposed and Elena was already a little wet from Stefan spraying her with water, but the way she had her arms stretched out while Stefan held the hose, threatening to use it on her again made Emerson think she probably didn't want to get any wetter than she already was.

"Don't what? Do this?" Stefan said and sprayed the water on her again while she ran to get away from him.

He caught her by her waist easily enough using his vamp speed and threw her over his shoulder while she laughed hysterically and tried to wiggle out of his arms.

"They've been married for two years now and they want to adopt a child, start a family" Aamon said with his eyes still locked on the couple in front of them and Emerson's heart broke again when she saw them kiss.

Her dad was happy without her.

It's all she's ever wanted for him. To be happy like this instead of constantly worrying about her and missing her mom. In this timeline he was, but instead of being happy for him she felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest and stomped on.

And she wondered if that made her selfish.

They watched Elena run into the house and Stefan was about to chase after her when he stopped. She noticed his eyes scan the estate until they stopped searching and he was looking right at her.

Could he see them?

She looked up at Aamon in alarm, but he touched her shoulder and they disappeared before she could ask.

"You know, when a girl runs she wants to be chased" Elena said walking back out and he snapped out of it, whatever it was.

"Are you okay, honey?" She asked in concern when she saw him standing there just looking out at the yard.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I felt something, but my imagination must be getting the best of me" he said and pulled her to his side, not caring if he got wet. He needed something to hold onto so he didn't feel like he was losing his mind.

"Are you sure?" She asked and wrapped her arms around his middle, laying her head on his chest.

"Yeah, I'm okay".

There was nothing there.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" Emerson yelled in anger once he brought her back to her cell. He saw her. Her dad saw her she was sure of it. She felt it.

"Alternate timelines. Timelines where your parents are happy and you don't have to blame yourself for things you can't control" he said, but she was already shaking her head. That's not what she meant.

"My dad could see me!"

"He wasn't looking at you!" He snapped and she flinched at the slight release of power while she couldn't even defend herself.  "You just want to believe that he saw you because a selfish part of you wants to believe that they'll still miss you when you're gone, but they won't. They won't even know you ever existed".

"No".

Her head was shaking vigorously as fresh tears stung her eyes.

"I've seen it, little one. I've seen everything!" His voice boomed and she felt so small just standing there. "You are fighting a losing battle and the harder you fight the more you and your family will suffer until there is nothing left! What I just showed you, that is the **only** outcome that will ensure your parents' safety...and happiness. I'm willing to give that to you. To reset time for you so that they will be happy".

She could still see them clearly in her head and could still hear her mom's laugh ringing in her ears. It sounded like music and she wanted so much for her to have that for real, to just live, even if it hurt her in the process.

She couldn't be selfish with them, not if she could end this once and for all and as much as she hated Aamon, he was right, they wouldn't remember her anyway. But she already knew that.

"How am I supposed to trust that you'll do what you say? You said it yourself, you're darkness" she said quietly.

"But like you, I was also created for a purpose. If you never exist, I never have to exist. I will reset the timeline, and then neither of us will exist in this world. Win-win".

She nodded, set in her resolve. She could fix this, for her mom, she would fix it. But she had one request.

"I want to say goodbye. I know they won't remember, but...I still want to say goodbye".

He considered her request for a moment and knew her decision was made, he could see it in her eyes. She's been battling with this since she got to this time, but now she actually looked almost at peace.

She wouldn't change her mind...so he nodded.

He disappeared soon after and she was left standing there by herself with a question scratching the back of her mind. She was missing something. Something important.

Her cage opened then and she scanned the room to see if he was still close, but there was no sign of him.

She didn't notice Elena standing in the shadows though watching her. Aamon appeared next to her and they watched the little girl walk out of the cell to go see her parents one last time.

"Are you sure this will work?" Aamon asked, breaking the silence and Elena nodded. 

"According to you I've exhausted every other possible outcome, but they still choose each other. Which means I don't get what I want. All this time we thought she was the problem, but maybe we were wrong, maybe she's the solution we've been waiting for.

Emerson is her mother's daughter. Her guilt and her self-hatred blind her from the truth, she doesn't see the bigger picture and that's why this will work" she said and looked up at him with a sinister smile on her face.

Aamon returned it with one of his own, "Of course...it's good to have you back, Master" he said and looked at the red eyes looking back at him.

"It's good to be back, Aamon".

* * *

Emerson used the last of her energy to run home. She didn't know how long Aamon had kept her in that cell, but it must've been a few days because she was starving and her magic was depleted. She accessed it as soon as she left that warehouse Aamon had her in, but she was too weak to use it though so she ran...and now she could barely stand.

She stood outside the boarding house and could see everyone through the big window. She saw the exact moment Bonnie felt her presence outside and she turned to look through the window, right at her, and a sob slipped through her lips.

"Em" she whispered and Emerson smiled at the sound of her voice. In the next moment Stefan was standing next to Bonnie looking at her through the wondow too, but she could see two of them, standing right next to each other.

"Dad?" She whispered when she recognised the familiar love in his eyes. He was in front of her the next second, pulling her to his chest and she let herself cry against it.

Her dad was here.

She didn't think she'd ever see him again, but he was here. She squeezed him tighter to make sure he was real and he kissed her hair.

"I'm real, Em. I'm real" he whispered and she cried even harder.

He was really here...now she could say goodbye.


	17. Some Things You Gotta Live With

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a new day at the Salvatore Boarding House.

_Dear Diary_

_I keep thinking of the last thing I'd ever want to say to my parents. There are all these things I want them to know, but I can't even begin to express myself, not in a way I want to. Not in a way that will make them understand why I had to do this._

_I did it for them...above all else, that's what I want them to know, that I did it for them so that life would be better for them._

She closed her eyes and leaned against the headboard hoping to keep the tears she was so desperately trying to hide at bay. She wouldn't cry...atleast not now because she still had time, so she decided to get up instead.

She closed her journal and put it on the night stand next to the bed before getting out of bed. She'd slept in Stefan's room with Bonnie, who refused to let her out of her sight last night after fussing and squeezing the life out of her.

Emerson never felt more loved and she almost cried right then, but she didn't because she made herself a promise.

She wasn't gonna cry about this. This was the right decision and her mom would finally be happy so she wouldn't cry. Instead they went to sleep, but when she woke up this morning Bonnie wasn't next to her and she couldn't feel her presence anywhere in the house.

In fact now that she thought about it the only person she was sure was in the house was her uncle Damon. So she decided she'd make him tell her where they were.

She was assaulted by the smell of burning pancakes the moment she walked out the bedroom and heard the music blasting from the kitchen.

When she finally made it downstairs she found her uncle Damon standing in the middle of the kitchen dancing to Salt-N-Pepa's Push it, which was...weird. He couldn't even dance decently, with his body as stiff as a board and, for a vampire, she was surprised he hadn't noticed her standing by the door just watching him in slight amusement.

She stood there a moment longer just watching him and her mind seemed to wonder what it would've been like if she grew up with him around. Would seeing him attempt to make pancakes been something she'd grown used to by now?

She internally reprimanded her brain for that thought. It didn't matter so there was no use dwelling on the impossible. This was the path she'd chosen and she'd see it through.

"Oh good you're finally up" Damon's voice broke through her thoughts and she realised that he'd turned down the music. "Grab some juice from the fridge will you?"

"I'm surprised you noticed me standing here" she mumbled as she walked towards the fridge and took out the juice like he said. "What are you doing burning pancakes anyway?"

"I'll have you know that my vampcakes are well known" he said flailing the spatula around like she's offended him, but she was just confused.

"Your what?"

"My vampcakes" he said. He placed a plate on the counter before her and she looked down at the plate of burnt pancakes. One of the pancakes had eyes made from blueberries, and a whipped cream smile with...fangs.

Ofcourse.

"You're a strange man" she said looking up at him with a baffled expression before pulling out a chair so she could sit. He smirked, completely unbothered and watched her take her first bite.

Her eyes went wide slightly in surprise, these burnt monstrosities actually tasted better than they looked and he almost gave her a genuine smile at the look on her face.

"Told ya they were good" he mumbled and she could hear the satisfaction in his voice as he turned around to make more.

They were silent again, the quiet voices of Salt-N-Pepa playing in the background as she ate her pancakes. It was a bit awkward and she felt the need to fill the silence so she finally cracked when she was almost done with the food on her plate.

"So what possessed you to wake up and make pancakes?" She asked his back and he turned around again to look at her.

"Vampcakes" he corrected and...yeah...she wasn't saying that. "You didn't eat last night, so I figured you'd be hungry" he tried to shrug it off, but she already saw right through him. So that's why the fridge was suddenly packed with human food, he brought it...for her. And here she thought he didn't like her very much.

"Don't look at me like that" he grumbled and he was busy again, flipping pancakes and pouring more batter.

"Like what?" She asked curiously, the complete awe must've shown on her face and from what her dad told her, Damon didn't deal with feelings very well so she tried to tame her face and waited for him to turn around again.

"Like you're about to make something out of nothing, cause that's what this is...nothing" he said "Your mother gives me that same look like once in a blue moon whenever I do something she says shows my human side". He groaned in annoyance, he knew this was a bad idea, like he didn't have enough to deal with without feelings being involved.

He grumbled some more and she hid her amusement behind her glass of juice as she drank it. And there was that feeling again, like she would've loved having him around her whole life.

"Speaking of mom...where are she?" She asked as he placed the second plate of pancakes in front of her, taking away the empty one. She hadn't eaten in three days, sue her.

Apparently that's how long she'd been missing...it felt a lot longer to her, but just like everything else it really didn't matter now.

"They went to the woods. Bonnie wanted to practice and the other two followed her like lost puppies" he said. He was standing in front of the sink now cleaning up the mess and washing dishes.

"She shouldn't be putting so much strain on her body" she said and Damon must've heard the worry in her voice because he turned around again and stopped what he was doing.

He just looked at her though and didn't say anything, almost as if he was physically trying to stop himself from letting something slip through his lips.

"What?" She snapped a little, not meaning to, but he was frustrating her with his silence when he clearly wanted to say something. It seemed to work though because he wiped his hands with the dish cloth and walked closer to the counter so that he could stand right in front of her.

"I'm gonna deny ever saying this, but...your mother is the strongest person I know" he said and she swore she heard admiration in his voice, but then again she could've imagined it. "She's a hard woman, extremely stubborn and tends to take on things that could get her killed, but she's still standing. She won't break easily.

But you were right when you said I was using her to see if she would be willing to sacrifice herself for Elena when we went against Klaus. I was. But I also knew that it wouldn't come down to that".

"How?" she asked, her voice small as she moved the last of her pancakes around. What he was saying made her stomach turn and it hit too close to home because that's what she was planning too. Only she didn't have a plan B so she really wanted to know how he could be so sure about what he was saying.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because this is what she does" he said and he was washing dishes again. She pushed the unfinished plate away, having suddenly lost her appetite and headed for the door before turning back to him.

"Thanks for the pancakes, Uncle Damon" she said.

"Vampcakes" he corrected and she turned around again heading for the door when he called her name.

She turned around again.

"I know I'm probably a crappy uncle in the future...but..."

"You're an absent uncle" she responded softly when he let that thought hang and looked at the ground briefly before meeting his eyes again. "It's kinda hard to be a crappy uncle when you're not even there...which I guess is crappy in itself".

She tried to laugh it off, but he could probably see the sadness in her eyes.

"As much as dad misses mom I know he misses you too so...uh, it would be great to have you around, making pancakes".

"Vampcakes".

She rolled her eyes at his insistence before she turned around to leave with the hint of a smile on her face and she was already out in the living room when she heard him softly say,

"She'll warm up to it".

* * *

Bonnie cringed at the sound of what she was certain were his ribs breaking on impact against the tree and ran over to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she kneeled down next to him and touched his shoulder lightly.

"Yeah, sure" future Stefan rasped and groaned in pain the next second, yeah... talking was not a good idea. "Already healing, see?" He said, pulling up his shirt for her to see and she flushed when she saw his chiseled body. She tried not to look for too long as she slung an arm around his waist to help him get on his feet.

"Uh- I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to throw you that hard" she said flustered and thanked the Lord in heaven for her brown skin. "I guess I really don't know my own strength, huh?"

She tried to get control of herself, but judging by the smile on his face as he looked down at her, she knew he noticed anyway.

"It okay, bab- I mean Bonnie". He spoke clearly this time and she smiled at the sound of his voice, choosing to completely ignore the little slip of his tongue.

She'd asked him to call her by her name.

It felt weird for her to hear him use all these terms of endearment when she wasn't even close to being the women he loved yet...and eventually lost. So she asked him to stop, and he was really trying.

She couldn't do anything about the way he looked at her though.

"I think we should take a break" she said and let go of him when she saw the longing in his eyes so she could get some distance between them.

He looked at her for a moment longer and already missed her touch. It was odd how familiar her touch was, even though she didn't have the same memories he did of their life together, she was still home for him.

"You're brooding".

Stefan almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of Caroline's voice behind him. Clearly the idea that you couldn't sneak up on a vampire was a myth because he hadn't heard her at all, and instead couldn't tear his eyes away from Bonnie and the guy who had his face.

"I'm not brooding, I'm thinking" he said still still looking at Bonnie and watching her put her grimoire back in her backpack, getting ready to leave.

"Mhm...so what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, Caroline"

"And yet, you haven't looked at me once since I got here" she pointed out, and turned to look at the couple that had him brooding for the past three days.

"You're not seriously still jealous of yourself, are you?" She asked and he finally looked at her.

She couldn't understand him. Sure, she could concede that it was strange having two Stefans around, and often confusing, but she couldn't tell them apart. They were the same person and they had the same heart, which meant they loved Bonnie the same. It was just that future Stefan had the advantage of time on his side, to nurture and grow that love.

She tried to explain that to Stefan just last night, but she was sure it went in the one ear and out the other. Hence the brooding.

"I just don't understand how she can be so comfortable with him and barely talk to me" he said.

"Well have you asked her?" Caroline asked and quickly added, "Maybe you should" before he could lie to her or groan incoherently, which ever would've come first.

This was exactly what annoyed her about Stefan, he spent way too much time in his head instead of being more vocal about the things he felt. It was a quality which, judging by how much more open Future Stefan was, he loses at some point.

"It's not that easy, Caroline".

"It is, so you need to stop brooding and go get your woman, damn it!" She snapped and walked away before he could argue with her.

He huffed in frustration, but it didn't take him long to follow after her.

* * *

"Checkmate" Emerson said victoriously, beating her uncle for the fifth time in the hour since they'd started playing.

"You're cheating, there's no way" he said examing the pieces again and she rolled her eyes.

"Or...you just suck at chess, uncle Damon".

They started playing after he finished cleaning up the kitchen when she suggested it to pass the time. He parents still weren't back yet so she figured it would be a good time to get to know her  estranged uncle since she wasn't going to get another chance.

Plus it was nice to have a day where she could just be normal and not think about how this would end.

"I've never sucked at anything in my life. We're playing again, come on" he said determined to beat her atleast once, but then the front door opened and she knew her parents were back.

They all walked into the parlor a moment later and Bonnie went to give her a hug.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as she pulled back from the hug a little and tucked Em's curls behind her ear.

"I'm good, just beating uncle Damon at chess" she said and smiled over at him only to have him cross his arms over his chest and frown at the chess pieces in front of him. He really was a sore loser.

"Explains his mood" Caroline pointed out and they all chuckled.

"Okay, well I think he's had enough. We should get to work on a plan to stop Aamon".

"Not today, mom, please. I know we don't have much time left, but I just need one day to just spend time with you and not think about the end. Just one day" she begged and Bonnie cradled her face in her hands.

"One day".

Emerson smiled and hugged her again.

"Well, I'm gonna go take a shower" she said and headed up the stairs, faintly hearing Emerson ask Damon if he still wanted to play again.

Her shower didn't take long. She was eager to go back downstairs so she got dressed just as quickly. Once she was done she opened the door to find Stefan standing there.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but uh- I was hoping we could talk?" He said a little unsure of himself and she considered it for a moment before nodding slowly.

She opened the door wider for him to walk inside and closed it behind him before walking further into the room herself.

"So, what do you wanna talk about?" She asked, standing at a safe distance in front of him.

"Well nothing in particular, I just wanted to check on you" he said looking over her shoulder and she awkwardly nodded again.

"I'm fine, but you're lying to me".

He looked at her then and he swore her heart sped up a little even though she refused to let it show on her face. So he risked it and took a step closer, "What makes you think I'm lying?"

"Because you weren't looking at me just now" she said with a shrug. She noticed things like that now, small things she didn't mean to notice, but did.

"Now are you going to tell me what's going on or can I go?"

He ran his fingers through his hair and she knew he was feeling frustrated, or stressed, but waited for him to spit it out.

"You've been avoiding me ever since that night at the grill, then Future Stefan came and I feel like you haven't spoken to me since".

"What are you talking about? I speak to you" she defended, but he was already shaking his head. "No, you don't, not really anyway. Look I really felt like we had a breakthrough that night, but then you shut down on me the very next second" he said and closed a bit more of the distance between them.

This time he was certain her heart was beating faster, which meant he was having an effect on her, which meant he had a chance.

"What do you want from me Stefan?"

"I want you to be honest with me" he said a little impatiently. He was right in front of her now and his breath against her cheek as he spoke made her shiver slightly. She had to get out of here, she couldn't do this with him right now.

"I can't do that, because that means I'll have to be selfish and tell you how I feel and I can't do that, Stefan" she said and watched his eyes drop to the floor before he looked back up at her.

"You don't seem to have this problem with Future Stefan". The words were out before he could stop them and she took a step back from him.

He could see the anger in her eyes as she said "Future Stefan wasn't there when Emerson got taken, you were. You want to know how I feel? I look at you and all I can think about is what we did and how our daughter was taken from right under our noses because we were, what? Busy making out in the parking lot? That never should've happened, Stefan! We've screwed up the timeline so much that I don't even know what future Emerson is going to go home to, so excuse me for not wanting to deal with feelings I'm not even supposed to be having right now!"

She was breathing heavily by the time she was done, but kept her eyes on him as she said, "Please leave".

He didn't argue with her.

Her knees gave out the moment the door slammed shut and she just sat on the bed, feeling drained. Why was talking to Stefan always so draining?

She didn't notice the journal on the night stand until she lay back on the bed and stretched her arm to grab it.

It was Emerson's journal.

Then suddenly she was debating on whether she should read it or not. On the one hand she didn't want to invade her privacy, but at the same time she kinda wanted to know why she felt like Emerson's suddenly lost the fight in her and just seemed to be giving up.

* * *

A few minutes later Bonnie was standing at the parlor entrance with Emerson's journal in her hand. Her index finger was bookmarking the page she just read while unshed tears stung her eyes.

It didn't take long for them to notice her standing there, but Emerson was the one to also notice the journal in her hand.

Bonnie walked further into the room and the words were tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Emerson Bonnie Bennett-Salvatore, what did you do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the cliff-hanger. Okay maybe I'm not that sorry...anyway, this chapter is a two-parter so I'm hoping to have Part 2 up by next week.


	18. Your Mother's Daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said a week, but it's been hard guys.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this anyway. :)

_“What...did...you...do?”_

The whole world seemed to go silent in that moment as they all stood there...waiting, and in the silence Bonnie could still remember something her grams once told her.

  _“Sometimes you can’t choose what you give to your kids”._

Back then, she was talking about Bonnie’s need to protect the people she loved, no matter what the cost. Grams told her that Abby was the same way. It was why she left when Bonnie was only four years old, to protect her, but to this day she still didn’t know what her mother tried to protect her from.

That was a secret her grandmother took to her grave.

And as she stood in front of her future daughter she wondered if she’d passed that down to her as well, that need to protect others with no thought of self-preservation. She really hoped not.

But then Emerson opened her mouth as tears stung her eyes and that hope left Bonnie as quickly as it came when she softly said, “I made a deal with Aamon”.

“You didn’t” she said in denial even though she believed her, because she was just like her.

“Mom...”

Her voice was shaking as she spoke and took a step closer to her, but Bonnie held her hand out, stopping her from getting any closer while her other hand had an ironclad grip on the journal she was holding.

Then a tear slid down Emerson’s cheek.

“I said that I would protect you...that I would make sure that you went back to your dad. All you had to do was trust me”.

“I do trust you! But I want to protect you too, can’t you see that?” Emerson responded, and they could hear the determination in her voice as more tears slid down her cheeks. Her voice was shaking when she spoke again, “Without me, you get to live. Aamon can reset the timeline and-”

“I don’t WANT to live if it means you never get to!” Bonnie cut her off. She was screaming and Emerson jumped slightly in fear when her voice got that high, but she didn’t care. If it got through to her, then she didn’t care that her voice was borderline screeching right now. “I die after living what I image to be a full life, feeling loved...” she continued in a softer tone and stole a glance at Stefan. Surprisingly, it was _her_ Stefan she was looking at and she could tell he looked just as surprised as she felt, especially after yelling at him not too long ago.

She mentioned before that she wasn’t close to being the wife future Stefan loved so dearly, but the same could be said for Stefan. He was a work-in-progress, just like her, but she knew he would get there. His future self was proof of that.

She looked at her daughter again and could finally relate to Damon’s description of her. She was stubborn and speaking to her was at often times like speaking to a brick wall, that’s what it felt like talking to Emerson right now. She was crying, but Bonnie could still see the determination behind those tears. She made her decision and there was no changing her mind, but that wasn’t going to stop Bonnie from trying so she pushed on saying, “You need to let yourself live too”.

They were silent again and Emerson wiped her tears away. That was the problem...

“I can’t just live. My guilt eats away at me every time I look at you and I don’t know how to make it stop” she whispered quietly. “And I know that you know what that feels like otherwise you never would’ve created that spell and my dad and I wouldn’t be standing here right now”.

“Emerson, Aamon can’t help you”.

“Maybe he can” she said a bit louder this time, “And even if he can’t, I can do it myself”.

She nodded, set in her resolve and she tried to brush past her, but Bonnie grabbed her arm.

“Some things you can’t change, Em. You just gotta live with them” she said firmly, squeezing her arm slightly to get her to hear her. But she didn’t, instead she pulled her arm from Bonnie’s grip and said “If you really believed that then why did you create that spell, mom?”

When Bonnie blinked she was gone, and so was the journal.

* * *

 

“You have to go talk to her” Future Stefan said when the front door slammed shut after Bonnie’s departure. This whole situation was messed up and he was trying really hard not to let what Emerson said sting.

He’s been there her whole life and it hurt to know that he wasn’t enough. He did his best to be there for her and to love her with everything in him, but the guilt she felt from losing her mom was stronger than the love he showed her.

And she needed her mother.

“I don’t know where she went” Stefan responded, pulling him from his thoughts and he looked at his present self in confusion before his words registered and he shook his head, “What?, no I mean go talk to Bonnie. I know where Em is so I’ll go talk to her”.

“Can’t you just tell me where she is and I’ll go talk to her” Stefan said, with a straight face and he just rolled his eyes because they really didn’t have time for this.

“Look, I know your ego is bruised right now from her yelling at you, but she’s _your_ Bonnie, not mine and as much as I hate to admit it you have a better chance of getting through to her. You understand her better than I do”.

Stefan nodded.

He wasn’t going to lie it hurt being rejected by Bonnie when he was just starting to feel so deeply about her, which was strange because he wasn’t used to fighting for who he wanted. With Elena, it was easy and it didn’t take much for her to open up to him because all he really needed to do was show her that he cared and that he would defend her against anything that tried to hurt her.

But Bonnie was different.

She was used to taking care of herself and having her own back that having someone try to protect her turned her world on its side. And instead of feeling grateful or relieved, she felt undermined and belittled because this was what she did. She was the one who protected everyone else before she protected herself and Stefan was learning that she didn’t want someone to protect her, she wanted someone to fight along beside her.

So in a way he guessed he did understand her, even if it was just a little bit. So he nodded again and Caroline gave him a thumbs up for encouragement with a guilty look on her face, and he knew “So you all heard her yelling at me?”

“It would be rude if we didn’t” Damon responded confidently as if he spoke for everyone and all he could do was roll his eyes before walking out with his future self.

They found her sitting on the porch railing looking out at the estate and Stefan nudged him forward before taking off to go find his daughter.

He took a deep breath and sat down next to her.

“Where’s he going?” she asked, looking at the car pulling out of the driveway.

“He’s going to talk to Emerson. How are you doing?” he asked and she finally turned to look at him before she shrugged.

“My daughter’s on a suicide mission, so...not great”.

“Our daughter” he said firmly before he continued, “because in the future we’re together”.

She groaned and turned to look at the estate again, “Not this again. Stefan-”

“No hear me out” he said. He actually grabbed a hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him. “In the future, you choose to stick with me and you let me fight the world beside you. I want to be there with you right now”. His eyes were looking into her soul and the sincerity in his eyes was disarming, but she finally saw him.

The Stefan he was before Elena.

“I’m right here with you”.

He still had his hands on her shoulders even when he was done and his hands felt warm through her shirt, like he was going to leave an imprint there for her to always remember what his touch felt like, but more than anything his touch was comforting.

“Okay” she said softly, and he seemed surprised as he echoed, “Okay?”

She nodded, “Yeah” she said and actually gave him a crooked smile that warmed his heart. She looked at his hands then and looked back at him as if to say, ‘you can let go now’ and he fumbled with his words as he dropped his hands to his sides, “sorry”.

“It’s fine” she responded and they sat there in silence for a moment, with him taking note of how comfortable she seemed with him just sitting there. It made him smile to think that he could bring her some sense of comfort in the middle of the storm they were in, which actually reminded him to ask, “What are we going to do about Emerson?”  


She looked at him again, deciding if she could trust him with her thoughts and ultimately decided that she could. It was the only way for what they were trying to build here to work so she took a deep breath and said “I have a plan to stop her, or at least to buy us some time. But I need your support”.

“I’m with you” he said without hesitation.

Because he stopped questioning Bonnie a long time ago.

* * *

He found her sitting on the living room floor in Sheila’s house flipping through Bonnie’s old grimoire and he wondered where the time went. It felt like just yesterday when she was seven years old and asking him if he would choose this life, and the answer was still the same.

If she was here, then of course he would.

He stood in the doorway just looking at her as she continued to flip through page after page to find something, anything that could help her, but he knew she felt his presence behind her.

She just didn’t say anything, so he did, “What changed?” he asked and her hands stilled, but she wouldn’t turn around to face him. She couldn’t bring herself to, but she knew what he meant because she remembered that conversation too.

“I met her” she said over her shoulder and started flipping again.

“I’m so sorry, dad” she whispered after a while, when he didn’t move and just stood there so that she wouldn’t be alone. “I wish I was stronger...but I’m not” her voice cracked despite her efforts to stay composed and he just listened, giving her the time she needed to gather her thoughts.

“But would life be so bad without me? If she was here?” she asked, but her voice sounded distant like she was trying to convince herself instead of him, like she was playing with the thoughts in her head.

“What happened to you when you were gone?” he asked and she finally turned around and looked at him. Her legs were tucked under her as she wiped away the stray tears sliding down her cheeks. “Aamon showed me a timeline where mom was alive. She was so happy, dad and you were happy too. You were with Elena and you guys were going to adopt a baby and start a family, and you were happy. You were happy and your life was perfect...without me”.

He finally moved then and kneeled in front of her, pulling her against his chest so she could cry.

His little girl.

She was so young and had the weight of the whole world on her little shoulders.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect life, Em” he whispered into her hair, his own eyes filling with tears and he squeezed her tighter. “The life we live is what we choose. It’s messy and often times it hurts like hell to live it, but I can recognise that maybe I didn’t do enough for you. That I wasn’t enough for you and you just needed your mom, b-”

“Dad, no!” she said passionately and pulled away from him so she could look him in the eye as she said “You are more than enough” she punctuated her words by stabbing a finger against his chest as she spoke. “You were there when I took my first steps, when I spoke my first words and lost you first tooth. Dad, you snuck around the house pretending to be Santa Clause after Stacy Fisher told me he wasn’t real and that I was stupid for believing he was, and you did that because you didn’t want me to lose a piece of my childhood. You’ve been there for it all and you are more than enough, okay?”

She saw the tears slide down his cheeks and reached over to wipe them away with her thumb, making him smile. “You make my life better, Em and being your father has given it purpose, but you’re your mother’s daughter so it doesn’t really matter what I say, does it?”

“I have to do this, dad” she whispered and took his hand in hers, hoping he would understand. This had nothing to do with him or his capabilities as a parent, it was just something she felt she needed to do.

“I know you do, and it’s my responsibility to stop you” he said and she looked confused for a moment before she passed out in his arms.

When he looked up he saw Bonnie and Stefan appear in front of him with Bonnie’s hands still hanging mid-air from the spell she just cast on her daughter. She looked at her unconscious body with sad eyes before looking up at future Stefan.

And she saw the same sad eyes reflected in his own, but this was the plan and there was no turning back now...

_She placed a finger over her lips as he walked into his bedroom. He came up here to see if she was okay after yelling at his present counterpart and found her with Emerson’s journal open on her lap._

_She stood up and handed it to him to read while she went to quietly close the door and sealed it so no one could hear them._

_“Bonnie what is this?” he asked when he was done reading it for himself._

_“I think something happened to Em when Aamon took her. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think she’s given up” she said and continued, “And I know that I probably sound crazy or paranoid, but after reading that” she pointed at the journal in his hands, “I’m starting to think that I might be right”._

_“I think you’re right too and I trust you, Bonnie so tell me what the plan is”._

_She sighed in relief, grateful for the trust he had in her, even though she didn’t completely trust herself. She couldn’t dwell on her own insecurities right now though, not when Emerson was on some kind of suicide mission._

_“She’s my daughter so I know she’s not gonna listen to reason” she said and Stefan smiled slightly, at least she was self aware._

_“But we also need to know what she’s planning so we know what we’re up against” he said and she nodded in agreement, pointing a finger at him. She appreciated his input, it made her feel like he was in this just as much as she was. “So we find out her plan...”_

_“...and we lock her up, in the cellar” she finished his thought, and he nodded._

_He left the room a few minutes later and joined the others in the parlor where Emerson was still beating Damon at chess and didn’t even notice he was gone..._

“Do you think this will work?” he asked her now as he picked up his daughter, carrying her bridal style and she sighed as they left Sheila’s house.

She didn’t know, but it would at least buy them some time.


	19. You Can't Have Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emerson learns the truth...

Alaric woke up to the sound of incessant banging on his door. It was the middle of the night and no one should be practically banging down his door in the middle of the night, especially with his easily annoyed neighbors in his apartment complex, so he practically ran to go open the door when the banging got louder.

When he finally opened the door he was ready to cuss out the person on the other side, but froze when he saw who it was.

"Hey Ric" Stefan politely greeted, dropping the fist that was about ready to bang on the door again.

"Uh...hey" he said, looking at the two Stefans flanking Bonnie and rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was still asleep.

"We're sorry to bother you so late, but...we need your help finding The Marquis" Bonnie said when he looked at her again and he nodded awkwardly as he mumbled a "Yeah, sure".

"Wait, am I seeing double or...?"

"Oh!" she said when he started pointing at the two men behind her. She forgot that no one else really knew that future Stefan was here other than the people that were in the room when he arrived. "Uhm, I promise we'll explain everything inside. Can we come in?"

"Sure" he said firmly and stood aside to let them inside.

Bonnie walked in first, closely followed by Stefan while the other one stood by the door next to Alaric.

"It's really good to see you again, Ric" he said and placed a hand on his shoulder, not sure if he should hug his old history teacher or not because it's been a minute since the last time he saw him, but decided on offering a warm smile instead as he said, "And I'm sorry about the incessant knocking, we're kind of in a race against time".

"It's...fine" he responded and Stefan smiled again before joining Bonnie and his present self inside.

Alaric stood there for a moment with a dazed look on his face, wondering if his life would ever be normal again before he actually closed the door behind him.

* * *

_Everything hurt._

_She felt it throughout her entire body before she even opened her eyes and it seemed the more lucid she became the more pain she felt._

_She felt it throughout her entire body. It was like every bone in her body was twisted and bent out of place and her body was screaming for her to put it back in place, but she didn't know how to because she couldn't move._

_All she could do was feel the damp floor beneath her._

_Then she opened her eyes._

_"What the hell?" She could hear the confusion in her own voice as she asked softly, breathing through the pain._

_She was fine._

_When she moved her head and looked down at her own body she couldn't see anything out of place and...she was fine._

_Then why did it hurt so much?_

_"Aah!" She groaned through gritted teeth and tried to breathe again when she tried to move._

_It probably wouldn't be a good idea to try to move again._

_"Do you really believe that?"_

_The woman appeared in front of her before she could wonder where that question came from and her eyes widened slightly at the familiar figure standing in front of her, looking down at her paralysed form sprawled out on the floor._

_Emerson couldn't place where she knew her from, but then again she couldn't exactly think straight right now so she wasn't really surprised when the question slipped past her lips without warning._

_"Who are you?"_

_The woman didn't look offended, and smiled instead, almost like she was teasing the little girl as she took a step closer._

_"With the number of times you've been in and out of my house you'd think you'd know exactly who I am"._

_"Great grandma Sheila? How are you-- Ah!"_

_Yep, definitely not a good idea._

_"H-how are you here?"_

_She shrugged and kneeled down next to her great granddaughter so she wouldn't have to strain her neck so much._

_Maybe she'd be in less pain now too._

_"I'm not here, not really. We're in your head, child. You know, where all your bright ideas come from?"_

_She didn't miss the sarcasm and hint of condescension in her voice._

_She ignores it all the same._

_"Why can't I move? Why does it hurt so much?"._

_"Because you're broken. You have been for years"._

_"I can fix it"  she whispered, still breathing erratically. She just needed to get rid of the pain and get up._

_She said it again through the pain and completely missed the sympathetic look on Sheila's face._

_This wasn't something she needed to fix._

_It was something she needed to accept._

_But time was up._

_That's why she was here._

_The spirits were clear, they weren't allowed to interfere. Emerson had to save herself and kill The Marquis. It was the only way to end this once and for all, but then the little girl got it in her head that she had to sacrifice herself in order save everyone._

_So when Bonnie knocked her out and weakened her magic Sheila went against the spirits and got in her head._

_"Emerson Bonnie...you can't do anything  if you can't move"._

_"T-then h-help- Ahh!!"  The heart wrenching cry ripped through her and tears gathered in her eyes as she tried to breathe again._

_It was getting harder to the more she tried and it was getting to her._

_But Sheila just watched._

_"P-please...pl-ease, help- help me"._

_"I can't help you, child. I wish I could, but you have to help yourself"._

_"H-how?" She asked her forest green eyes meeting her great grandmother's hazel ones and she waited for her to tell her how to make the pain stop._

_It was so unbearable and she would do anything to make it stop._

_"You have to let go of the guilt that's consuming you"._

_That's what was slowly killing her from the inside._

_"She's dead because of me" she whispered brokenly in such a quiet voice that Sheila almost missed it and she shook her head._

_"No, she's not" she said "After you were born The marquis killed your mother. She knew that he would come for her, just as he did for so many women in our family. She manipulated the elements to make sure you were born before your time and she cast a spell on herself so that it would look like she was still pregnant._

_She planned it all. Your father thought that she would die in labor, but that wasn't true and she could only tell him in a letter she wrote the day before she went to the hospital._

_But you..._

_You were born a month before when your mother got your Aunt Lucy to come pick her up so she could visit Lucy's cabin._

_That's what she told your father, but Lucy knew because the spirits were granting her the same visions of the future, of when the Marquis would come"._

_"I-I don't understand...w-why is-"_

_"Hush now, child, save your strength. I know this is confusing for you because when you are from you live a semblance of a normal life, but further down the line you became the strongest hybrid to ever live, and you change the course of time._

_But there's no time to talk about it now, you have to go._

_Your family is in trouble, Emerson Bonnie...what are you going to do about it?"_

"Damon, look" Caroline's voice reached her ears before she opened her eyes again for real this time. She heard the door unlock and they were hovering over her the next second with worried looks on their faces.

When she sat up it didn't hurt and she could feel her strength slowly returning back to her body.

She looked at her uncle Damon and their eyes locked for a moment before she spoke.

"I don't want you to skip town because Elena doesn't love you. I want you to stay with us. I want you to make pancakes".

"Vampcakes" he corrected predictably with a smirk that made her smile. "I'll stick around if you do".

"I promise".

"Right back at ya, kid".

"As glad as I am to hear that you're not going to kill yourself anymore, what's the plan here exactly?" Caroline asked quickly wiping the stray tear from her eye.

"First, we need to get to my parents. Where are they?"

"They went to ask Ric for he- Em where are you going?!" Caroline yelled frantically as they ran after her when the little girl quickly got up and rushed out the door.

"They're in trouble so we have to go, come on".

The front door slammed shut with their departure.

* * *

"Wait. I'm confused I thought Aamon was The Marquis. That's what the book said"

Alaric could literally feel his head spin from everything they were telling him.

"The book was wrong. Aamon is a servant to The Marquis" Future Stefan said and started telling him everything Lucy did before he came here.

"His goal is to bring the underworld here, but in the future Emerson stops him so he created Aamon to kill her.

The problem was they didn't know which Bennett witch it was, and they wouldn't find out until she was born so he waited, hunting and killing off each member of our family in the meantime, until he killed my wife".

_"Mr. Salvatore"._

_He looked up to see the doctor standing in front of him with a solemn look on his face and his heart sank to the floor._

_"Please tell me they're okay" he quietly begged as the tears clouded his eyes._

_He wasn't exactly sure who he was begging, just that he'd been doing it since they kicked him out of her room and wouldn't tell him what was wrong with her._

_And now as he listened to the doctor tell him that they couldn't save them all he wanted was to somehow bring them back because he_ _**needed** _ _them back to feel whole again._

_He didn't hear anything the doctor said after that before he let him go see her. They were going to take her away soon so he had to say goodbye._

_When he finally saw her again, laying there on the hospital bed he reached for her and held on as he laid over her body begging her to wake up._

_The tears fell on their own..._

_He didn't know how he was going to go on since she took his heart with her when she took her last breath._

_"Stefan"_

_Lucy was standing on the other side of the hospital bed holding onto his arm and he wondered how long she's been here._

_He didn't care enough to ask though and turned to his wife instead. Her eyes were still closed when he looked at them and it hurt so much to think about how he'd never see them open again._

_"Stefan we have to go"._

_He looked up at her like she was crazy and shook his head. He wasn't going anywhere and she was insane for thinking he would so he took his wife's hand instead and placed it against his unbeating heart._

_It was still warm._

_"You don't know everything. Please, let me tell you everything" she begged and that piqued his interest._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"There's so much more going on here, Stefan and I'll show you everything, but you have to come with me"._

_"I'm not leaving her" his voice shook when he spoke again and he was shaking his head again._

_Whatever it was would have to wait._

_She huffed in frustration._

_She was so mad at Bonnie for leaving her like this, to take care of the aftermath of her death and try to get through to her husband who wouldn't even listen to her._

_She knew he wouldn't move unless he had a good reason to and even though she didn't want to do this here he didn't leave her with much of a choice...so she told him._

"Why didn't you ever tell Emerson this?" Alaric asked.

"She would've wanted to avenge her mother before she was ready and gotten herself killed. What I didn't account for was the self-hate. I thought I'd be enough, you know, that I could get her through it and then when she was ready I'd tell her. But there's no time for that now".

"You're right. There's no time to discuss this now, we have to go" Bonnie spoke up.

There was so much crap to unpack, but now was not the time. They got what they needed from Alaric, and now all they had to do was go find the son of a bitch that kills her twice.

So she was on her feet before they could argue and they headed out the door.

* * *

It didn't take them long to get there.

He was already standing in front of the warehouse he had Emerson in just a few days ago, waiting for them.

And Elena was standing right next to him, but it was the red glow of her eyes that tipped them off.

It wasn't her anymore.

"Bonnie Bennett" she greeted "It's so nice to meet you in the flesh".

"I'm afraid I can't say the same. I'm guessing you're The Marquis of Hell. You have a name?"

She shrugged carelessly and took a step closer. "I prefer being known as The Marquis, puts a certain **fear** in people that I enjoy.

But none of that matters because this will all be over soon. I just need to..."

She lifted her left arm as her eyes growed a brighter red and when she closed her thumb and forefinger together, Bonnie suddenly couldn't breathe.

She was sucking the life out of her.

Stefan was the first to react, and charged towards Elena while future Stefan caught Bonnie before she fell.

He didn't get very far though before Aamon was blocking his way. His right hand buried deeply into Stefan's chest, slowly squeezing his heart.

His eyes widened in shock as Stefan felt his breath leave his body and he held onto Aamon's shoulder to steady himself.

"I wouldn't try that" his dark voice spoke from behind his cloak while he looked at Stefan, but he was talking to the history teacher standing behind them with a crossbow aimed right at him.

He flicked his wrist and Alaric was sent flying through the air. The tree broke his fall, but he was instantly knocked out cold.

"H-help h-him" Bonnie managed to get out as she gasped for air and looked at him. He wasn't looking too good himself. Stefan's current state must've been affecting him because she could see he was struggling to breathe, as much as he tried to hide it.

"Bonnie-"

"I'll be fine...go" she rasped and pushed herself out of his arms.

She could see the fear in his eyes as he reluctantly let go and sped over to help Alaric while Bonnie got on her hands and knees, slowly getting to her feet while clutching her chest, but Elena only squeezed harder to keep her down.

"Bonnie Bonnie Bonnie, you need to stop fighting me" she said happily, "This is a losing battle and I have no problem killing you a third time. Then I'll kill your daughter".

"Y-you...c-cant...h-have...her". Her voice was barely above a whisper as tears ran down her face and Elena was kneeling down next to her. She cupped the back of her ear and inclined her head closer to the witch to hear her better as she spoke her last words.

That's all she was, just a stupid little witch who was crazy enough to think that she could stop her from doing anything.

But she couldn't...because she was just a witch.

Bonnie felt the exact moment Stefan got his heart ripped from his chest and saw his body hit the cold ground with his face turned to face her, so she could see his eyes wide open.

But there was no life in them and she couldn't breathe.

Oddly enough the last thought to hit her as she took her last breath and everything went black was of how they broke their promise to Elena.

Because when all was said and done Stefan was the one who was supposed to live.


	20. I'll Hold On If You Do

_March 3, 2019_

She woke up with her heart pounding against her chest as she struggled to breathe.

At this point it was nothing new, it was just another dream. She’s been getting them every day since her first trimester and every day they’ve been getting worse and more vivid to a point where they felt all too real.

And she wasn’t sure how much longer she had left.

 “Hmm, are you okay?”

The hand on her stomach tightened its hold as her husband whispered sleepily against her neck and she hummed. She was already calming down, the sound of his voice soothed her, making her fears somehow seem insignificant, and she smiled.

“I’m fine. Go back to sleep” she whispered, running her fingers through his hair and kissed the crown of his head.

He turned his head after that and planted his own kiss against her lips.

“You were never a good liar, Bon” He smirked and placed a second more lingering kiss on her lips before he asked, “Is she keeping you up?”

He started to absently rub her stomach and she could feel all the stress she was feeling melt away some more.

She hadn’t told him about her visions.

She wanted to. She really did, but she was scared.

Stefan would want to protect them no matter what it took, and if The Marquis killed him then their baby wouldn’t have either of her parents.

Her fate was sealed, but she would make sure his wasn’t.

“I don’t mind, we have some of our best conversations in the middle of the night” she said softly, which made him chuckle before he went to kiss her stomach. She knew he was having a hard time with this pregnancy, especially since she led him to believe that she would die in labor. She’s seen him struggle with that and every time she did she’d be more tempted to tell him everything.

But she never did.

“I’m going to miss you this weekend. Both of you” he mumbled against her pregnant belly and she wondered if he was talking to her or the baby.

But it didn’t really matter.

They’d miss him too.

“Lucy’s picking me up in the morning”.

“I thought I was driving you up there” he said and sat up so he could look her in the eyes.

“She wanted to do it. I’m sorry, honey” she said and reached over to touch his cheek. Lucy has been having the same visions and her worry was making her restless which was why she insisted on picking her up herself.

She hoped her husband wasn’t too disappointed though.

 She pulled him back down to her as she sank further into the bed so she could lay comfortably on her back and he hovered over her.

“We need to choose a name for her” he whispered, his breath against her lips making her shiver while she watched his mouth as he spoke and she hummed, trying to think straight.

“Mhm”

“I still say we should name her ‘Belle’. Both your names mean Beautiful and I have no doubt that she’s going to look exactly like you”.

“You’re so sweet to me, honey” she smiled, looking into his eyes. His beautiful forest green eyes she fell in love with all those years ago and she softly asked “Do you remember when you told me that Bennett witches were heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity?”

“Baby that was ten years ago. You still remember that?”

“I remember everything you’ve ever said to me” she said seriously and they were quiet for a moment as his eye stared into hers. Sometimes she couldn’t believe he still looked at her like this, like his whole world went round because of her and it made her heart soar.

And she hoped to never lose this feeling.

His eyes dropped to her mouth this time before he captured her bottom lip between his in a kiss. Being kissed by Stefan...she never knew how to describe it, but her body always burned for him and all she could do was moan into the kiss when he opened her up and slipped his tongue inside her mouth.

She dug her nails into the back of his neck then and tried to roll her hips against his because she needed so much more and she just **_loved_** that animalistic growl she could get out of him.

Like now, when he growled into her mouth.

But then he pulled away just when it was getting good and all she could do was whine from the loss of contact.

“Talk first” he whispered, breathing hard against her lips “Then-- then we’ll pick up where we left off”.

She whined her disapproval and he kissed her pout away before he told her, “I interrupted you, what were you saying?”

“I don’t...know, words probably” she teased and tried to pull his face back down to hers, but he pulled away before she could.

“Tell me” he insisted and she couldn’t say no to the sincere look on his face.

He really wanted to know and she couldn’t say no.

“I want our daughter to live up to that legacy. I want her to know that she is brave, because her family was brave. Because it’s in her blood”.

They were quiet again as he looked deeply into her emerald green eyes and he could see that she’d really thought about this.

It was important to her.

So he nodded and reached for her stomach again as he asked, “What’s her name, Bonnie?”

“Her name is Emerson”

* * *

_March 5, 2019_

“Okay, Baby...okay”

It was almost time.

And she was kinda freaking out a little bit.

Not over the pain though, but over everything that would come after because maybe, just a little bit, she was going to miss their midnight conversations.

She sighed and whispered again.

“I’m going to need you to take care of your father for me. He’s not going to be okay for a while”.

And that was her fault.

She glanced at the letter lying on the dresser in front of the bed and sucked in a shaky breathe that got stuck in her throat. She wrote it the moment they got to Lucy’s cabin, before she forgot everything she needed to say.

Everything she was too scared to say to his face like he deserved, because she was a coward, so she wrote it in a letter instead, knowing it wouldn’t be close to what he needed.

But it’s all she had to give because she was a coward.

“Anyway”, she looked back down at her stomach and tried to muster something that she hoped resembled her usual smile and said, “It’s really going to hurt to part from you and I don’t know if any of us are going to survive this, but...I’ll hold on if you do. I’ll hold on for as long as I can”.

“Bonnie” Lucy called her from the doorway. She’s been standing in the hallway for a while, giving them their privacy.

It would be the last time Bonnie would be with her baby and she needed to say goodbye, but they were running out of time and nature wouldn’t wait for them so she walked in.

“The moon has hit its apex. We need to go”.

“Okay, help me up” She replied with a nod of her head and extended her arms for Lucy to take so she could help her out of the bed. “What time is it?”

“1 am, so what do you say we get this show on the road, Cuz” she said when they were facing each other and Bonnie smiled, her tears stinging her eyes.

“Yeah, let’s get this show on the road”.

* * *

If she closed her eyes...and concentrated hard enough she could see it.

The life she’s always wanted.

A life where she could hear her daughter’s laugh while she played with her dad in the front yard while she watched them from the porch, where she didn’t have to constantly look over her shoulder waiting for a powerful demon to take her away from them.

But that’s not what fate chose for her. She had to play the hand she was dealt.  

Then she heard the sound of her daughter’s cry as she entered the world and thought that maybe she had it all wrong, maybe the life she always wanted was right in her arms.


	21. This Mess I've Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you can't count on anything else, you can always count on family.

She stilled when she felt his heart being ripped from it's place in his chest and fell to her hands and knees when her mother took her last breath.

All the while the envelope she had with her burned a hole in her back left pocket.

There was something to be said about learning something through someone else and feeling it for yourself. When you felt it, you felt it throughout your entire body. Like now, she felt his shock and pain, then nothing at all...then she felt Bonnie's chest closing up from the lack of air.

But not only that, she could see it too. She could see it because, even though they were still a distance away, they were **_so_** close.

_"You...can't...have...her"._

Then there was nothing...

_Emerson_

_She picked up the envelope with her name on it. She found it laying in the living room on Alaric's coffee table in her dad's handwriting._

_They weren't there though, just the envelope..._

_"Em" she turned around to find Her uncle and Aunt Caroline already standing by the door, getting ready to go and she could see the concern in her eyes as she said, "We have to go, do you still remember the place?"_

_"Yeah. I remember"_

_She stuffed the letter in her pocket and followed them out._

_She'd read it later, she told herself, when all of this was over and her family was safe._

_She'd read it then._

And now that same letter felt heavy in her pocket and she couldn't stand on her own anymore.

How could she be so close to saving them...and yet so **_very_** far.

She didn't completely break down though until she felt Caroline's arms wrap around her like a warm blanket. That's when she sobbed into the other girl's shirt.

That's when her heart was torn to complete shreds and, much like her mother...she couldn't breathe.

_A lifetime of misery..._

That's what Damon promised his little brother over a century ago.

He was so consumed with hate and resentment back then because Stefan took away his chance at peace, but then over time that anger and resentment just became pointless so his promise became nothing more than a game to him.

A game with no winners apparently because now that lifetime was over, just like that...and he was left without a brother.

So he lost the game too...

And all that was left was anger. Anger he hoped he could unleash on the evil bastards that took away his brother, no matter whose face they wore.

He would've been there now, with his arm buried so far into that body snatching piece of shit's chest, looking right into his eyes as he took his life from him, but his movements were halted by a silhouette headed straight towards where they were hidden by a cloaking spell several feet away.

"Emerson".

It took him a moment to recognise the person rushing towards them as he tripped over his own feet, falling onto the ground...and getting back up again every time without fail like a man determined to get away from the evil behind him and towards something he wasn't sure he'd get to, but would die trying anyway.

"Emerson" Damon snapped this time and Emerson turned sharply towards him, her green eyes burning with rage he wasn't sure was directed at him or The Marquis they both needed to kill.

And he didn't ask either, instead he said, "Look".

The two girls followed his gaze to what looked liked... _Alaric?_

Emerson got to her feet then and met the man halfway, catching him in her arms as he fell again. When he looked into her eyes she could see the relief that was hidden in his, underneath all that fear and shock.

He sighed and reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes with the heel of his palms.

She'd forgotten about those, but then again she'd decided she wasn't going to hide her grief, not anymore.

She felt it the moment his hands touched her cheeks...the magic that was flowing through his veins...Bonnie's magic.

And she closed her eyes.

_"I want you to act as a conduit"._

_When Alaric just looked at her with confusion in his eyes she continued._

_"My daughter wants to kill herself and I don't know how to stop her" she said standing in front of him with her arms raised before dropping them to her side in defeat. "And I tried to reach my family...my grams for help, but I feel like they didn't even hear me. I feel abandoned, and I've exhaused all of my options so I am asking you to please do this for me"._

_"Ofcourse I'll help you, Bonnie" he said. Of course he'd help her . Bonnie was just one of those people you'd do anything for because you knew she'd do the same for you without even batting an eye._

_And for once Bonnie deserved a win in this life where she seemed to be constantly dealt a bad hand so he took a step closer to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and asked, "What do you need me to do?"_

_She let out a breath she didn't realise she'd  been holding, along with a quiet chuckle that was filled with so much gratitude that she couldn't express in words, so she hugged him instead._

_When she let go she told him._

_The plan was to transfer all her magic to Alaric because she wasn't narcissistic enough to think that she could defeat The Marquis by herself with two vampires at her back and one hunter. Because as strong as they were together..._

_They just weren't strong enough and he would expect a direct attack from them, which is what they would give him._

_So they would be the diversion that Alaric needed to escape, and that Emerson needed to end this..._

"She knew you'd need it more than she did to make you stronger...because she believed that if anyone could kill that son of a bitch, it was you, even if you needed a little boost".

Fresh tears clouded her vision as she opened her eyes again and looked at him.

"How did she know I'd change my mind?"

"She didn't...but she did this anyway. And here we are so maybe she was right to put her faith in you".

All she could do was nod as she siphoned Bonnie's magic from the history teacher and she felt it flow thoughout her entire body, making her stronger and for the first time since she got to this time she believed without a shadow of a doubt that she could save herself...that she could save them all.

When she turned around with Alaric's arm slung over her shoulder, Caroline could feel the magic radiating off of the young girl and the look in her eyes said only one thing.

_She was so over this shit._

So when she asked them to take Alaric and leave Caroline didn't argue, but before they disappeared into the night she spared her one last glance that said she'd be seeing her again...even if she didn't know when that would be.

Damon, on the other hand, lingered and it took him exactly two steps before he was standing right in front of her.

"I'm not leaving you, Kid. Your parents told me to watch you so you're not getting out of my sight".

She shook her head and scoffed, of course he would fight her on this.

"This isn't your fight" she insisted, but it was his turn to shake his head and somehow his blue eyes seemed to glow brighter in the moonlight as he sneered, "You're **_my_** blood, so this is **_our_** fight".

He wasn't going to leave so instead of pushing she nodded dumbly and dropped the cloak that kept them hidden.

'Elena's' senses perked up then and she looked up at them as they approached. Her eyes were glowing a deep red and there was a sinister smile on her face which was meant to intimidate the little girl, but it only succeeded in pissing her off even more as she looked at her mother's lifeless body that was laying between them.

"Emerson!" She said cheerfully as she got up and stepped over Bonnie's body.

Emerson's anger flared, and her magic was begging to be released when she glanced down at her mother's body and saw her dads tossed to the side in the corner of her eye.

"You missed a hell of a party, but better late than never, right?...I mean, that's what you kids say? I'm trying to adapt to this world, but half of the words that come out of your mouths don't even make sense to me". She shrugged it off, "But I have pleanty of time to figure it all out...unfortunately I can't say the same for you".

She stayed quiet and turned her focus on the supernatural behind the cloak that was sent to keep her from existing.

The darkness to her light...because they were the same, and he knew just the right buttons to push to get a reaction out of her.

To get her to fall apart.

Because he knew her.

"Actually, I have plenty of time" she finally responded, though her eyes were still on Aamon.

Then she looked back at her.

"Because you suck at originality".

When The Marquis didn't respond and just stood there with that stupid smirk on Elena's face, she continued.

"Your Aamon is nothing but a cheap copy of me. With my abilities, all so you could fool my family for centuries while killing them off when their guard was down.

Because you didn't create him in your own image, you created him in mine".

The clapping that followed didn't surpirsed her, nor did the Aamon removing his cloak to show them a face that looked exactly like hers.

She couldn't say the same for Damon though, who was currently burning holes into the side of her head from staring at her in shock.

"It's a neat little trick isn't it?" He asked as if he actually wanted hear to respond. "And to think you weren't even born yet when I was created. Your mother's memories helped me fool your family more than anything, after my master killed her he blessed me with her memories before sending me off on my mission".

"A mission that could've been avoided if your mother hadn't been too smart for her own good and hidden you from me...but oh well, you're here now so I can kill you myself".

"You were never going to reset the timeline, were you?" Emerson asked when Aamon walked towards her and _he?_ shook his head at her...she wasn't sure she could assume there was a man under there since he was wearing her face.

"No, but I will gladly reunite you with your family" he responded and flicked his wrist like he didn't with Alaric, only this time nothing happened.

And she noticed the smirk slip from Elena's face.

"I'm good...thanks". Then she looked right at her double and rhetorically asked, "Neat little trick, huh?"

"You're blocking my magic" she sneered, her voice dangerously low and Emerson only shrugged while Elena growled, _"How?!"_

Because all jokes were gone now and for the first time they stopped looking at her like an inferior version of her future self...who, she figured must be something judging by the looks on their faces.

And she knew, she'd caught them offguard.

"It's like you said, my mother is **_way_** too smart for her own good".

She didn't have to tell Damon what to do next because he was already in Aamon's face with his arm buried deep in his chest...and it was _**sweet**_ vengeance.

But it wasn't enough, even as he ripped Aamon's heart from his chest and watched the lookalike drop to the ground...and it wouldn't be until The Marquis was dead or he got his brother back.

Whichever came first.

When they turned to him again Elena's face looked pissed and just about ready to rip both their heads off when Emerson set Aamon's body on fire. Because otherwise she would come back, demons always came back if you didn't kill them right.

"You're not going to stop me. You can't stop me, you're not strong enough" she sneered, her voice dripping with acid as she spoke and Emerson could admit that was true, even with Bonnie's magic.

She was still too young and barely hit puberty and she didn't know what she was doing, but then again she didn't have to kill him because..."I already killed you. That's why you need a vessel to come here because you're nothing more than a spirit who needs a minion to do your dirty work...so instead I'm going to do what I should've done in the future..."

_"No!"_

The wind picked up around them and the weather changed as she spoke, "...I'm going to let my family decide your fate".

Damon's eyes widened in shock and his mouth dropped to the floor when he turned around to see generations of Bennett witches standing behind them with their hands linked, looking at Elena with disdain.

You see...Bonnie was wrong when she said they didn't hear her.   
  
They did.

But witches were stubborn, and of all the people they collectively agreed to hate, it was Damon who got them to show up because he was right...

They were blood.

And Emerson wished more than anything for Bonnie to see this, to see that they came and that they were going to let her channel their magic just like they did for her not too long ago.

She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt cold fingers intertwine with hers, but all she could do was cry when she saw who it was and whispered, "Mom?"

"Hello my beautiful girl. I can't tell you how proud I am of you, Emerson" she said with a smile as tears stung her eyes  and she thought of all the times she's visited her without her knowing, just to see how she turned out and she really was proud of her, and of the woman she was becoming.

Her eyes travelled down to her husband's body and her smile broadened, "He did a good job raising you..."

"He did" the little girl agreed.

"...promise me you'll take care of him, no matter how the future turns out".

"I will".

She nodded satisfied before turning to look at the abomination in front of them who hadn't moved since they showed up and said, "Now finish this".

She didn't have to be told twice and the incantation fell from her lips, _"Vie dans des ancêtres, renforcer noblesse. Comme des ancêtres, de coeur noblesse. Décider on de ancêtres, garder noblesse_ "

She channeled her family's magic and used it to destroy the demon in front of them. She destroyed the spirit, while Elena laid on the ground unconscious after Emerson finally freed her from The Marquis' influence.

* * *

When it was all over they were the only two people left standing, facing each other, and with Damon looking at his niece in complete admiration.

She really was a Bennett...and a Salvatore.

She was a beautiful combination of both and Damon was left in awe.

He turned to look at the sunrise ahead as it colored the sky a gorgeous red and orange and he smiled at it's beauty.

Then he looked at his niece.

"So what now?" He asked, breaking the silence that was hanging between them.

"Now I get to go home" she said, "with Bonnie's magic still flowing through me I can reset the timeline...to the day before I came here".

"What about Aamon?"

"The Marquis is destroyed so he never comes into existence".

Then he looked down at Bonnie and Stefan and she answered his silent question, "They'll be fine. It will be like I was never here".

Damon nodded slowly, but it didn't feel right.

"So I won't remember you at all?"

"I wouldn't say at all...time is a tricky little thing, you might get sensations every once in a while, moments where you might experience deja vu? But you won't know why" she explained, hoping to ease whatever concerns he might have and he nodded again.

"I'll see you in the future, Uncle Damon" she gave him a pointed look as she said it. She knew he wouldn't remember his promise to her, but hoped his subconscious would nag him about it.

He smiled.

"I'll be seeing you, kid" he replied and pulled her into his arms the next second.

She melted in his embrace as a stray tear slid down her left cheek and she tightened her grip for a moment before she finally let go.

She put some distance between them and smiled at him one last time in case she didn't see him again. She also looked down at her mom's still body briefly.

The Marquis was gone so she should be alive now...but she couldn't be 100% sure so in case she was wrong she mumbled her goodbye to her and disappeared between the trees.

* * *

She walked out of the boarding house an hour later with nothing but the backpack she had with her when she came here and ran to the woods she woke up in a lifetime ago.

It didn't take long for her to get there and she was flipping through her Grimoire when she felt the envelope in her pocket.

_Emerson._

She read her name again after pulling it out of her pocket and opened it with shakey hands...

_Dear Stefan_

_I'm sorry for not being brave enough to tell you this in person, and for keeping you in the dark._

_I guess I couldn't look at your face and tell you that we wouldn't be together for much longer...or that I've known for a while now._

_I'm sorry._

_I'm sure Lucy has explained everything to you by now, and I know you will struggle to accept my fate, but I need you to be stronger than I am, not only for yourself but for that precious little baby girl._

_She'll need you to step up as her father, so don't grieve me for too long._

_Rather help her be the person she was meant to be, the person I've seen in my head. And I'll look out for the both of you, even if you can't see me...I'll still be there._

_I love you both so much._

_Love Bonnie_

Emerson  watched the letter disappear in her hands a moment later.

Time was set and the future was changing, and she could go home now so she closed her eyes and chanted the spell.

And she was engulfed in white light.


	22. Epilogue

_September 6, 2012_

"I always thought that Elena was the one I couldn't live without. But she's gone and I'm alive...so it must be you".

He made his confession standing in her doorway.

Him and Elena broke up and she thought he'd be more devastated than this, but instead he was standing in front of her waiting for her to say something, anything.

But her mind went blank.

She could admit that something changed between them. She's not sure when or how, but she'd feel this pull to him and sometimes it would hurt to ignore it.

But she had to, for Elena's sake because that was her best friend and she loved her.

So all she could offer him was a friendship...

But so much has changed since they met.

And now he was standing at her door.

"So what do you want now?" She finally asked softly, and the moment the words left his mouth she got that same sense of deja vu she's been getting over the past two years whenever it came to him.

And it brought a smile on her face when he said.

"I want you to tell me what you see in me".

* * *

 _September_ _6, 2034_

“Ugh” Emerson groaned as she rubbed her aching head.

Yep, time travel wasn't any fun the second time around either.

She sat up slowly as the pounding in her head subsided and she took in the trees around her.

"I made it" she whispered to herself and breathed out a laugh as the tears filled her eyes.

The laugh ripped through her unexpectedly and she fell on her back again and just watched the night sky.

It'd been a long time since the last time she took in how freakin awesome looking at the stars was.

So she decided to just lay there for a moment because whatever changes she had waiting for her didn't matter right now.

The sky mattered...so she'd look at it.

* * *

Irina Shayk once said that nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing...

"Hey, where did you disappear to?"

A voice cut through her thoughts as she walked in through the front door.

It was her mom's voice.

She was standing right in front of her with her head tilted to the side while she gave her a curious look.

Rationally she knew her mom would be here after a flood of memories of this future came when she was still in the woods and it shouldn't have come as a shock to find her alive in front of her, but as much as Emerson berated herself in her head...her mouth wasn't forming any words for her to use to respond.

Nothing...

When Emerson just stood there frozen and not saying anything Bonnie took a step closer and waved a hand in front of her daughter's face to gain her attention.

"Em, did you hear me? You just left without telling anybody where you were going, and you just made curfew too, five more minutes and I would've grounded you without even batting an eye" she reprimanded while Emerson blinked and then she couldn't help the smile that was suddenly plastered on her face.

"Um, I'm sorry mom. It won't happen again".

"I'm serious, Emerson Bonnie. I will ground you if you don't tell us where you are going".

"I know, and I promise next time I'll tell someone". Her smile grew bigger by the second and Bonnie was sure that if she kept that up she'd end up swallowing her whole face.

Then she squinted her emerald green eyes in suspension, wondering what it was about her that none of the people in this house took her seriously even when she was trying to lay down the law.

"Urgh, you're just like your father" she decided and shooed her into the kitchen to go slowly drive **_him_** into insanity

Em did as she was told before abruptly stopping by the doorway. Then she turned around and ran to her mom, hugging her from behind as she whispered "I won't be late again".

Bonnie smiled despite herself and touched her daughter's forearm for a moment.

"Go help your dad. And keep your uncle away from my dessert" she spoke as she made her way up the stairs, "You'd think for a vampire he wouldn't be a walking garbage disposal but here he is eating all our food..."

Her mini rant continued until she made it to their bedroom and Emerson could only shake her head before walking to the kitchen to help her dad.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that the four of them were sitting around the dinner table eating the Spaghetti alle vongole her dad prepared when her uncle Damon decided now was a good time to announce that he'd gotten married in Vegas a few weeks ago.

"You _what?!_ "

That reaction was to be expected.

"I met this girl and we hit it off, it's no big deal" he shrugged it off before digging into his food again, ignoring the looks of utter shock and confusion her parents wore while she giggled behind her fork.

 _This was nice_ she thought feeling a sense of peace for the first time in her life.

Everything she went through felt worth it because it got her here with the people she loves the most and even though the rest of the scooby gang was off living their own lives she was comforted by the fact that they'll find their way home.

"Fine, if you can tell us her name right now, we'll let this go" Bonnie was saying and Damon looked her right in the eye before saying, "Cathy".

"You're lying" Stefan said and dug into his plate while Damon turned a sharp gaze at him.

Then he looked back at Bonnie.

"Fine I'm lying. I don't remember her name, but that doesn't mean we can't have something special together".

_What?_

"You're getting an annulment".

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. Em was going to say something to comfort him when something outside caught her eye and she was abruptly on feet.

"Uh- May I be excused? I need to uh...get my journal from dad's car" she said and quickly sped out the door before they could respond.

 _"Looks like you made it"_ Sheila said when Emerson was standing on the front yard facing her.

"I did. Though I'll admit I didn't think I would".

_"Why not? You defeated The Marquis and saved your family"._

She absently nodded, but something was still bothering her and it wouldn't stop until she got answers.

"But vampires aren't supposed to be able to procreate. The witches created me to defeat The Marquis...and he's gone now so how am I here?"

Sheila shook her head and took a step closer to her great granddaughter so she could grab a hold of her shoulders.

Then she turned her to face the house so Em could see her parents and uncle bickering again through the big window that overlooked the yard, too caught up in whatever it was they were fighting about now to notice her standing there.

_"I'm afraid we can't take credit for you, child. You can see it just by looking at them and you can feel it, can't you?" Sheila asked._

She was so content just watching them that she almost forgot to respond and even then all she could manage was a nod to show that she understood.

Sheila turned her around to face her again and their eyes met.

_"Sometimes love, if strong enough, can defy any magic there is, and you should enjoy it...you are incredibly blessed"._

"Thanks, grams" she said and her grandmother touched her cheek one last time with a warm smile on her face before she left her.

And when Emerson looked at her family though the window again she couldn't help, but agree with Irina Shayk.

There really wasn't anything quite better than this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it, we've FINALLY reached the end. *sighs*. 
> 
> I really loved writing this and I enjoyed hearing what you guys thought about it too so thanks for that.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with it till the end I really hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.
> 
> Anyway...just an acknowledgement to Cory Mathews for Stefan's line at the beginning of this chapter. It's one of my favorite lines from Boy Meets World so I take no credit for it.
> 
> I guess there's not much else I can say except...see ya!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys like this. Please leave a kuddos or a comment to let me know what you think.


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